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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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She Pivoted Careers After 20+ Years in Academia!
Name: Amy Lovell (she/her) PhD: Astronomy, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 1999 What was your main area of research? I carried out...
Apr 14, 20253 min read
Scientist Loves Real World Impact and Good Work Hours
Name: Jerry Chien (he/him) PhD: Neuroscience, University of Southern California, 2024 What was your main area of research? I studied how...
Apr 14, 20252 min read
Unsupportive Advisor + Layoff Didn't Stop this Manager
Name: Stephanie Silva-Del Toro (she/her) PhD: Immunology, University of Iowa, 2021 What was your main area of research? Neutrophils are...
Apr 14, 20254 min read
Director of Research Worked at the Company in Grad School
Name: Tricia Thrasher (she/her) PhD: Second Language Acquisition / French, The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2022 What was...
Apr 14, 20252 min read
Meta Research Scientist Faced Challenges in Grad School
Name: Ronshee Chawla (he/him) PhD: Statistics and Machine Learning, University of Texas at Austin, 2024 What was your main area of...
Apr 14, 20255 min read
From PhD to Domain Expert Engineer in a Tech Company
Name: Marcial Otero (he/him) PhD: Electrical Engineering, National University of Rio Cuarto, 2022 What was your main area of research? I...
Apr 13, 20253 min read
Program Specialist Uses Research for Energy-Efficient Design
Name: Sara Sultan (she/her) PhD: Energy Science and Engineering, University of Tennessee, 2023 What was your main area of research? I...
Apr 13, 20251 min read
Environmental Biologist + Founder Helps the Natural World
Name: Silvia Pineda-Munoz (she/her) PhD: Ecology and Paleontology, Macquarie University, 2016 What was your main area of research? My PhD...
Apr 12, 20253 min read
Sales Representative Pursued a Path to Joy
Name: Brook Sweeten (she/her) PhD: Neuroscience, Eastern Virginia Medical School, 2020 What was your main area of research? My career has...
Apr 12, 20252 min read
Biotech Scientist Advocates for Authenticity
Name: Jesse Weber (he/him) PhD: Cell & Molecular Biology, University of Pennsylvania, 2024 What was your main area of research? My major...
Apr 12, 20252 min read
Scientific Research Liaison Solves Problems from Grad School
Name: Beatriz Robinson (she/her) PhD: Neurosciences, Stanford University, 2023 What was your main area of research? I studied the impact...
Apr 12, 20252 min read
Director of R&D Gives Tips for Career Prep You Should Do Now
Name: John Watkins (he/him) PhD: Chemistry, University of Bath, 2012 What was your main area of research? I studied electrochemical...
Apr 11, 20253 min read
Chief Scientist Sees the Direct Impact of His Work
Name: Leo Pekelis (he/him) PhD: Statistics, Stanford University, 2016 What was your main area of research? I studied topics in robust...
Apr 11, 20252 min read
Laser Scientist to Startup CEO
Name: Celia Millon (she/her) PhD: Laser Science, Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers (CNAM), 2018 What was your main area of...
Apr 9, 20252 min read
Program Manager Loves Her Work's Real-World Impact
Name: Kendra Lechtenberg (she/her) PhD: Neuroscience, Stanford University School of Medicine, 2019 What was your main area of research?...
Feb 9, 20254 min read
Immunologist to Clinical Project Manager + Consultant
Name: Anthony Franchini (he/him) PhD: Immunology, Albany Medical College, 2014 What was your main area of research? I studied how chemicals present in our environment, such as those from burning plastics and other pollution sources, alter and dampen the immune response to respiratory pathogens including influenza A virus, SARS-Cov-2, S. pneumoniae, and M. tuberculosis. This is mediated by the aryl hydrocarbon receptor, or AHR. I expanded on this work to include studying the
Feb 9, 20252 min read
How a PhD in Bioinformatics Led to an Industry Career
Name: Bhavika Mam (she/her) PhD: Bioinformatics, TDU, 2022 What was your main area of research? During my PhD years, the subject of my...
Jan 11, 20252 min read
Department of Energy Fellow Changing the Energy Landscape
Name: Hannah Nedzbala (she/her) PhD: Chemistry, Yale University, 2024 What was your main area of research? My research was at the...
Jan 11, 20252 min read
Lead Data Scientist Helps Develop Exoskeleton Technology
Name: Simon Bastide (he/him) PhD: Kinesiology / Neuroscience / Biomechanics, Université Paris Saclay, 2021 What was your main area of...
Jan 11, 20253 min read
Scientist Discusses Differences Between Academia and Industry
Name: Gabriel Kaufman (he/him) PhD: Immunology, McGill University, 2017 What was your main area of research? I studied novel biological...
Jan 11, 20252 min read
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