1. Tell us about your background. When did you graduate from Brown? What has your career path been like since graduating from Brown? What made you choose your employer/position?

I attended Cornell University in Ithaca, NY prior to matriculating to Brown. I majored in biological engineering with double minors in French and biomedical engineering. I graduated from Cornell in 2015 and then matriculated to Brown to pursue my Master's in biomedical engineering. I graduated from Brown in May 2017 and am now attending the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to pursue my Ph.D. in bioengineering. I really liked the program and research at University of Illinois which is why I ultimately chose to go there.

 

2. How did your experience at Brown help you find your first position after graduation?

My experiences and opportunities at Brown really helped me grow as a scientist and a researcher. At Brown, I discovered my passion for women's health which ultimately led me to join a tissue engineering lab at University of Illinois and start an exciting new project on modeling the endometrium.

 

3. What experiences and/or personal qualities would you look for if you were in the position to hire new graduates from Brown?

I would look for a hard worker who is willing to spend a lot of time optimizing protocols and discovering more efficient ways to do things. A lot of research is figuring out problems and you have to be willing to work hard and spend a lot of time on something if to do so.

 

4. What is your current position? On a typical day (or week) in your position, what do you do? What are the toughest challenges you face? What is the most rewarding part of your job?

On a typical day, I go to class and do research in my lab. Research is challenging because it involves a lot of problem solving and critical thinking; however, it is incredibly rewarding when you figure something out and make progress in your work.

 

5. Are there any courses at Brown that you would recommend taking as preparation?

Courses with design elements are useful for learning how to design experiments and research an issue to be solved. I also found BIOL2050 Biology of the Eukaryotic Cell to be a very useful refresher on cell biology.

 

6. If you had it to do all over again, what would you do differently?

I honestly think that all of my experiences helped shape who I am today so I am reluctant to change anything if at all. However, if I absolutely had to do it all again, I would TA for my first year as well as my second. I was a TA for both semesters of my second year and really enjoyed the experience so I wish I had done the same my first year. I would also take courses outside of my specialities at Brown so I could further diversify my knowledge base.

 

7. Why did you choose Brown?

I ultimately chose Brown because I thought that Brown had the best program out of all the schools I got into. I knew going into my Master's that I wanted to strengthen my tissue engineering background and Brown had numerous tissue engineering labs interested in taking students. I knew that at Brown, I would have ample opportunities to join a tissue engineering lab and perform cutting edge research. I also liked how the program at Brown involved writing a thesis. I was not sure what career path I wanted to take prior to graduating from Brown so it was important to me to be able to explore what pursuing a Ph.D. was like through research and writing a thesis. I also thought that Brown did an excellent job placing students where they wanted to go after graduation, whether it be more school or starting a job. Finally, everyone I met at Brown, including students and faculty, was exceptionally kind and supportive. I knew that Brown would have the collaborative research environment I was looking for based on my interactions with current students and faculty.

 

8. Why did you choose BME?

I chose BME because I was initially interested in medical school and wanted to pursue a practical major that would allow me to study medicine and other topics as well. Now, I love BME because it allows me to help people using my engineering background and skills. BME allows for the study of medicine through modeling and engineering which fascinates me.