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From PhD to Career Success
Explore how PhDs from a variety of different
fields navigated the decision to leave academia.
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Senior Director Says If You Don't Try You'll Never Know
Name: Glen James (he/him) PhD: Cancer Epidemiology & Public Health, Queen's University Belfast, 2012 What is your current job? I am a Senior Director & Research Scientist for Eli Lilly, working remotely and based in Boston, Massachusetts. I develop and execute research strategies using real world data to generate high impact real world evidence for key stakeholders (e.g. patients, payers, and healthcare professionals supporting Lilly assets across all therapeutic areas). What
Oct 162 min read
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Research Analyst Reminds Us of Our Incredible Skills & Knowledge
Name: Francisco Santamarina (he/him) PhD: Public Policy and Management, University of Washington, 2023 What is your current job? I am a Research Analyst for the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee, based in Olympia, Washington. I conduct studies specified by the State Legislature to understand if a policy, law, or agency is functioning as expected. I use a mixture of methods, primarily qualitative, to understand and evaluate performance over the course of the study.
Oct 163 min read
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Publications Manager Had a Career as a PI
Name: Vicky Sherwood PhD: Molecular Virology, University of Nottingham, 2006 What is your current job? I am a Publications Manager for Merck, based in the United Kingdom. I oversee the medical communications for a phase II to phase III asset. What is your favorite thing about your job? I love knowing the work of my team has the potential to help a lot of patients improve their lives if the new therapy works. What is the most important skill you developed or experience you had
Oct 162 min read
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Venture Associate Says Not to Listen to Those Who Tell You No
Name: Hannah Jacobs (she/her) PhD: Biology, MIT, 2025 What is your current job? I am an Associate for Safar Partners, based in Boston, Massachusetts. My job entails due diligence on companies, building investment memos, site visits, and screening companies. What is your favorite thing about your job? I can be myself with my colleagues, people seem happy, and I get to help founders trying to change the world. What is the most important skill you developed or experience you had
Oct 163 min read
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Scientist Picked Up the Necessary Skills in Graduate School
Name: Sayantan Chatterjee (he/him) PhD: Chemistry, Stanford University, 2023 What is your current job? I am a Scientist (Oligonucleotide Chemistry) for Korro Bio, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. I invent new chemistries to support Korro Bio’s oligonucleotide-based gene editing platform technology, including novel strategies to generate chemically modified nucleobases, sugar, and nucleic acid backbones. To achieve that, I operate modern automated oligo synthesizer instrumen
Oct 164 min read
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Regulatory Medical Writer Is a "Crazy Scientist" at Heart
Name: Katrin Zaragoza Dörr (she/her) PhD: Molecular Biology, Humboldt University of Berlin, 2008 What is your current job? I am a Regulatory Medical Writer, Trainer and Mentor, CEO & Founder of Medrika Consulting S.L., based in Barcelona, Spain. I write documents with medical and scientific content related to clinical research, from the description of how a clinical trial has to be conducted (protocol) to the results of this clinical trial. Some content is highly strategic an
Oct 163 min read
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Chief of Staff Specializes in Deep Tech Strategy
Name: Cam Watson (he/him) PhD: Biochemistry and Biotechnology, University College London, 2018 What is your current job? I am Chief of Staff for Nuclera, based in Cambridge, United Kingdom. In my job, I develop business strategy, identify markets to enter, build partnerships/collaborations for research and commercial teams, win funding from government and investors, and work with R&D to refine products based on market feedback. What is your favorite thing about your job? I lo
Oct 162 min read
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Principal Scientist Highly Recommends Industry Experience
Name: Pravallika Manjappa (she/her) PhD: Neuroscience, The Royal Veterinary College, 2023 What is your current job? I am a Principal Scientist at ViaNautis Bio Ltd, based in Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom. I am a preclinical scientist, responsible for building data packages to develop new medicines for various diseases. A big part of my job involves designing and executing preclinical studies to build confidence that the medicines we discover and develop will work in the clin
Oct 163 min read
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Imaging Scientist Gets to Apply His PhD Knowledge
Name: Jack Breen (he/him) PhD: Artificial Intelligence, University of Leeds, 2025 What is your current job? I am an Imaging Scientist for...
Oct 72 min read
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Behavioral Scientist Urges You to Stay True to Who You Are
Name: Nikkita Sarna PhD: Business (Marketing), University of Texas at Austin, 2023 What is your current job? I am a Senior Behavioral...
Oct 73 min read
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Space Technology Consultant Works on Cutting-Edge Projects
Name: Rowan Curtis PhD: Atmospheric, Oceanic and Planetary Physics, University of Oxford, 2022 What is your current job? I am a...
Oct 52 min read
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Research Engineer Works On State-of-the-Art Research
Name: Prafful Golani PhD: Electrical Engineering (Semiconductor Physics Focus), University of Minnesota, 2022 What is your current job? I...
Oct 52 min read
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Program Officer Says You Are More Equipped Than You Think
Name: Harry Alesco (he/him/el) PhD: Chemical Engineering, Texas A&M University, 2022 What is your current job? I am a Program Officer for...
Oct 52 min read
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Senior Engineer Emphasizes Both Technical & Soft Skills
Name: Ilaria Sanzari PhD: Electronics and Electrical Engineering, University of Southampton, 2017 What is your current job? I am a Senior...
Oct 52 min read
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Lead UX Researcher with Incredible Advice for PhDs
Name: Vasudha Chaudhari (she/her) PhD: Learning & Technology, The Open University, 2020 What is your current job? I'm currently a Lead...
Oct 55 min read
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Data Analyst Says to Go for the Whacky Ideas & Jobs
Name: Henry Zovaro (he/him) PhD: Astronomy & Astrophysics, The Australian National University, 2020 What is your current job? I am a Data...
Oct 44 min read
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Founder Helps Researchers Present in More Memorable Ways
Name: Andrew Churchill (he/him) PhD: Education, McGill University, 2011 What is your current job? I am the Founder of PresentBetter based...
Oct 43 min read
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Business Owner Helps People Get Into Great PhD Programs
Name: Natalie Morse (she/her) PhD: Environmental Engineering, Cornell University, 2018 What is your current job? I am the Owner of...
Oct 41 min read
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Patent Counsel as Guardian for Developed Product
Name:  Solveig Söding (she/her) PhD:  Molecular Biology, University of Münster, 2005 What is your current job? I am a Patent Counsel...
Oct 43 min read
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Product Designer on a Progress Over Perfection Mentality
Name: Pekka Murto PhD: Design, Aalto University, 2017 What is your current job? I am a Product Designer for Vend in Helsinki, Finland. I...
Sep 102 min read
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