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 graduated from Brown with a degree in Biomedical Engineering in 2007.  While I considered multiple career options, I decided on pursuing a career in the R&D within the pharmaceutical industry.  I was hired as an Associate Scientist at Pfizer. I have held multiple roles and studied several different diseases of the brain including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s disease and Autism.  I personally liked the idea of working for a large company as it gave me the opportunity to meet and learn from many talented scientific experts and professionals.  While at Pfizer, I also had the opportunity to complete a Master’s degree in Management part-time at RPI.

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

At Brown, I completed about a year of undergraduate research as part of my degree.  Here, I developed many technical and writing skills which I was able to apply to my career.  My biology and statistics coursework were also very relevant.  Extracurricular activities were also important for developing interpersonal skills and practice with working on teams.

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 someone who demonstrates intellectual curiosity and a good balance of technical and people skills.  An ideal candidate would have good attention to the details of assignments and also be able to step back and see the big picture of why their work is important.

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?

As a research scientist, I work in a group to address different scientific questions in relation to a drug target.  This involves identifying the right experimental models, designing and running experiments, and finally analyzing and reporting the data.  A typical day would include doing hands-on work in the lab, documenting work in an electronic notebook, attending meetings and various administrative tasks.  The rewarding parts of the job are when we reach a project milestone and knowing that our efforts made a positive impact in advancing a drug program.

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

For a career in research, I would recommend taking a few courses in statistics and writing in addition to a core science curriculum.

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

If I could repeat my experience at Brown, I would try to maximize my time to include more activities and interacting more with my peers.  I would focus on ways of learning both inside and outside of the classroom.