The Industry Exploration Program at UMass Medical School will host two events this month in keeping with its mission to provide students and postdocs in the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences with greater exposure to the biosciences industry.
The goal of IndEx, a postdoc- and student-led group founded in 2012, is to provide graduate students and postdocs opportunities to explore PhD-level careers in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries.
In the winter of 2012, the Center for Biomedical Career Development program had yet to open. Through her own career exploration initiatives, GSBS student Victoria Ruhl Pedanou recognized a need for PhD candidates to be introduced to the possibility of careers in industry. Ruhl Pedanou is a PhD candidate in the lab of Michael Green, MD, PhD, Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, the Lambi and Sarah Adams Chair in Genetic Research, chair and professor of molecular, cell, & cancer biology, professor of molecular medicine and director of the UMass Medical School Cancer Center.
“We had been trained to stay in academia, but there was a need for a program that allowed us to explore what’s offered in industry,” said Pedanou, now director of the IndEx program.
The group began to organize site visits throughout Massachusetts and the New England area to allow graduate students to observe company cultures, learn about the structure and function of industry research and enhance their knowledge of careers in industry. The program also provided students and postdocs with an opportunity to interact directly and network with industry professionals and obtain valuable career guidance.
Today, with the biomedical career development center operational, Pedanou said IndEx collaborates regularly with Cynthia Fuhrmann, PhD, assistant professor of biochemistry & molecular pharmacology and assistant dean of career and professional development for the GSBS, and Morgan Thompson, PhD, assistant director of career development, to schedule and host campus events. IndEx also continues to schedule at least two site visits per semester to companies such as AbbVie, Genzyme and Athena Diagnostics.
“We consider IndEx to be a supplement to what the Center for Biomedical Career Development is working on,” Pedanou said.
For more information on the IndEx program read here: umassmed.edu/iep
Upcoming events:
- Thursday, June 9, 10 a.m. to noon in S2-102, “Career Development and Interviewing Skills” with John Finch, JD, deputy director of administration and finance at MassBiologics at UMass Medical School
- Friday, June 17, 1 to 4 p.m., Site visit to the Broad Institute in Cambridge
