Discovering Career Paths in Biological and Biomedical Sciences
The Bioscience Careers Seminars are an interdepartmental series introducing graduate students and post-docs to a wide range of careers in biological and biomedical sciences. These student-organized seminars host monthly speakers from various fields across the biosciences who have chosen paths outside of academia.
Invited speakers share their career experience and advise students about how their training led to jobs in their field, salary expectations, competitiveness, and demand for their work. The seminars are informal and open to all students and post-docs.
The Bioscience Careers Seminar Series is hosted by the PhD Ambassadors and supported by the Office of Research and Graduate Education and Life Science Washington.
All seminars will be held in-person at UW Medicine South Lake Union from 4 pm – 5 pm.
- October 21, 2026, Building C, Orin Smith Auditorium
- November 18, 2026, Building C, Orin Smith Auditorium
- December 16, 2026, Building F, Room 106
- January 20, 2027, Building F, Room 106
- February 17, 2027, Building F, Room 106
- March 17, 2027, Building F, Room 106
- April 21, 2027, Building F, Room 106
- May 19, 2027, Building F, Room 106
| Year | Speaker | Degree | Company | Talk Title |
| 2024 | Aiva Ievins | PhD | MilliporeSigma | From Academia to Corporate Strategy: Building a Career in the Life Sciences Industry |
| Kris Blair | PhD | University of Washington | Pathways to a Career in Research Development | |
| Jessica Roberto | PhD | WA State Department of Commerce | Bridging the Gap: Leveraging a PhD in the Startup World | |
| Amitabha Gupta | PhD | Fred Hutch | Funding future science: Where SciComm meets philanthropy | |
| Alex Ochs | PhD | FDA | Demystifying the FDA: Regulatory Career after PhD | |
| Lucy Yang | PhD | Repligen Corporation | Find your career fit: Field Application Scientist | |
| Julie Diamond | PhD | RoosterBio Inc. | Consulting & Banking & Startups, Oh My! Navigating the road to a fulfilling career in biopharma | |
| Jessica Ribado | PhD | Gates Foundation | Science Policy in the Non-Profit Sector | |
| 2023 | Dean Pettit | PhD | UW Bioengineering/Just Biotherapeutics | Just. The essential for a career in biotech startups |
| Marquicia Pierce Henderson | PhD | Ruby Leaf Media | Of Mice and Markets: My Journey to Becoming a Business Consultant | |
| Erica Jonlin | PhD | University of Washington | Regulatory affairs in academia: Having fun as a fish out of water | |
| Issa Benna | PhD | BridgeBio | Virtual: N/A | |
| Amanda Larson | PhD | Eisai | Virtual: Medical Science Liaison: The best-kept secret of industry careers | |
| Louisa Helms | PhD | Flagship Pioneering | Virtual: How to set yourself up for a successful jump from the bench to the real world | |
| Sarah Owen | PhD | Seagen, Inc. | Virtual: From Research to Development: Aligning Your Career Trajectory | |
| 2022 | Stuart Graham | PhD | Meta, Inc. | Virtual: N/A |
| Erin Bedford | PhD | Aspect Biosystems | Virtual: My journey from synthesizing nanoparticles at the bench to building partnerships with experts in regenerative medicine research | |
| Victoria Rodriguez | PhD | FDA | Virtual: Acknowledging Uncertainty and Fostering Skills in Your Resilience | |
| Maher Khelifi | PhD | The Leap Studio | Virtual: Using a PhD to Land the Tech Career You Want | |
| Grace Huynh | PhD, MD | Allen Institute | Virtual: Using a PhD to Land the Tech Career You Want | |
| Jessica Kuong | PhD | Amazon Web Services | Virtual: Using a PhD to Land the Tech Career You Want | |
| Jenny Cronin | PhD | Institute for Protein Design | Virtual: N/A | |
| Amitabha Gupta | PhD | Fred Hutch | Virtual: Fair Balance: My Career as a Medical Science Liaison | |
| Eileen Sun | PhD, JD | Fox Rothschild | Virtual: N/A | |
| Cristina Wittkopp | PhD | 10x Genomics | Virtual: N/A | |
| 2021 | Jenny Maki | PhD | University of Washington | Virtual: Opportunities to Work in Research Without Doing Bench Work |
| Will Canestaro | PhD | Accipiter Biosciences | Virtual: The Right and Wrong Reasons to Join a Startup | |
| Fang Yin Lo | PhD | Generate Biomedicines | Virtual: N/A | |
| Charla Lambert | PhD | Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory | Virtual: An Academic Career in STEM Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion | |
| Anna Hughes | PhD | Grifols | Virtual: N/A | |
| Shivani Ludwig | PhD | TetraScience | Virtual: The Winding, but Purposeful Path: One PhD’s Non-Traditional Business Career | |
| Lisa Poole | PhD | Caris Life Science | Virtual: N/A | |
| Alejandro Grajal | PhD | Woodland Park Zoo | Virtual: N/A | |
| 2020 | Magali Dieny Eaton | JD, LLM | Montana State U-Bozeman | Virtual: Taking research to market impact as a career launch (and track?) |
| Scott Smith | MS, JD | Allen Institute | Virtual: Career options in patent law | |
| Andrea Valladao | PhD | Co-Motion | Virtual: From Bench to Business: A Path to Tech Transfer | |
| James Urton | PhD | Argonne National Lab | Always carry a notebook: My career in science writing and media relations | |
| Adam Ruben | PhD | FDA | Surviving Your Stupid, Stupid Decision to Go to Grad School | |
| Rachel Bartholomew | PhD | Pacific Northwest National Laboratory | A Mission-Driven Career: Solving National Security Challenges in Biodefense | |
| 2019 | Glenna Foight | PhD | Baylor College of Medicine | Finding exciting science in industry |
| Brooke Kaiser | PhD | Pacific Northwest National Laboratory | Unique Opportunities: My Experience at a National Laboratory | |
| Ivan Liachko | PhD | Phase Genomics | Taking the leap: bootstrapping a startup in the genomics market | |
| Frieda Chan | PhD | CoMotion | Life is short, you do you | |
| Benjamin Jester | PhD | Lumen Bioscience | N/A | |
| Karen Peterson | PhD | Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center | Hope Is Not A Plan: Coaching Scientists for Success | |
| 2018 | Brittany Weldon | PhD | The Boeing Company | A Career Taking Off: Biosciences in the Aerospace Industry |
| Christie Wilcox | PhD | Science Magazine | Finding Your Voice: From Scientist to Science Writer | |
| Yi Deng | PhD | Amazon Web Services | The grass on the other side: expectations, surprises and adaptation in biotech industry | |
| Jeff Chamberlain | PhD | RareCyte, Inc. | Selling Science | |
| Callie Anderson | PhD | Salesforce | Panel: Careers in Data Science | |
| Kimberly Schlesinger | PhD | Bristol Myers Squibb | Panel: Careers in Data Science | |
| Lanna Jin | PhD | Expedia Group | Panel: Careers in Data Science | |
| Marina Zannoli | PhD | Abridge | How Engineering Constraints Can Boost Scientific Creativity | |
| 2017 | Melanie Roberts | PhD | Washington State Academy of Sciences | Making Science Meaningful: Career Adventures in Science Policy & Beyond |
| Heather Van Epps | PhD | Merck | Devil in the Details: Journey to My Unexpected Dream Job | |
| Andrew Hellman | PhD | Quest Diagnostics | Is Medical Writing Right for You? | |
| Dennis Hanson | PhD | University of Washington CoMotion | An Unplanned Twenty Year Journey in Academic Tech Transfer | |
| Alex Jiao | PhD | Scout | Overlap in Academia and the Startup World: How a Scientist Can Become a CEO | |
| Tingting Li | PhD | Firma Clinical Research | From Lab Bench to Bedside and Beyond: Where PhDs Can Fit in Clinical Trials and Drug Development | |
| Marley Jarvis | PhD | Mad Agriculture | The Museum Path to a Career in Public Engagement with Science | |
| Joshua Burton | PhD | Natera | What Kind of Scientist Do You Want To Be? | |
| 2016 | Jessica Marshall | PhD | McKinsey and Company | Science Stories: A Career in Science Journalism |
| Fernando F. Migone | PhD | Welocalize | Transition from Academia to the Industry: Joining the Dark Side? | |
| Anna Turetsky | PhD | Osage University Partners (OUP) | The Art and Science of Venture Capital | |
| Ruwanthi (Ru) Gunawardane | PhD | Allen Institute of Cell Science | Career Transitions in the Biological Sciences; Navigating between Academia and Biotech | |
| Lee Weng | PhD, MBA | Renox Technologies (Australia) | Building a bright career through innovation | |
| Alison Mehravari | PhD | AI Education and Research Initiative, University of Washington | Facilitating science: Working in scientific program and operations management | |
| Connie Cheng | PhD, JD | Fortem IP LLP | From Ph.D. to Patent Law | |
| Lee Kaplan | PhD, MD | Lee Kaplan Consulting LLC | Clinical Cytogenetics: A Clinical Laboratorian on the Road to a Diagnosis | |
| Mark Branum | PhD | Stradbio | Working in Small Company Biotech | |
| 2015 | Courtney Law | PhD | JP Morgan | Panel: Entrepreneurship, Commercialization, and Startups in the Life Science |
| Josh Pan | PhD, MBA | Landmark BioVentures AG | Panel: Entrepreneurship, Commercialization, and Startups in the Life Science | |
| Lucas Nivon | PhD | OpenFold | Panel: Entrepreneurship, Commercialization, and Startups in the Life Science | |
| Brooke Anderson-White | PhD | Biopharma Resource Groups LLC | Researcher, Writer, Consultant: Finding the Right Fit and How to Get There | |
| Tom Schmidlin | PhD | Postdoc Brewing Company | From Beer to Biochemistry and Back Again | |
| Leen Kawas | PhD | Propel Bio Partners LLC | Convincing the ‘Old Guard’ of Science and Business to Believe in the Entrepreneur’s Quest to Change the Future | |
| James Thompson | PhD | Amazon | Panel: Life in the Cloud: A Tech industry Panel | |
| Jeremiah Wander | PhD | Microsoft | Panel: Life in the Cloud: A Tech industry Panel | |
| Tim Blakely | PhD | Google AI | Panel: Life in the Cloud: A Tech industry Panel | |
| Jennifer Pang | PhD | Bellevue College | Beyond the Bench: Turning Community Building into a Career | |
| Sandlin Preecs (Seguin) | PhD | Maine Legislature; Camoin Associates | Freelancing, Contracts and Careers in ELearning | |
| Jennifer Gardy | PhD | Gates Foundation | I Am a Scientist and I Play One on TV | |
| Pete Groblewski | PhD | Allen Institute for Neural Dynamics | Transitioning from Academia to the Allen institute For Brain Science | |
| 2014 | Robert Masterson | PhD | Department of Veteran Affairs | ‘Master Class’ on Life Science Startups |
| Dhileep Sivam | PhD | Aquagga Inc. | Invention, Investment, and Incubation: Managing the Transition from Science to Business | |
| Arturo Ramirez | PhD | RareCyte, Inc. | Getting that First Biotech Job: Stories from a Recent Graduate | |
| Shannon Payne | PhD | BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | Fair Balance: My Career as a Medical Science Liaison | |
| Jennifer Osborn | PhD | Jennifer Osborn Consulting, LLC. | Grad, Grantee, Grantor: Navigating Non-Profit Careers in Global Health | |
| Sarah Sanowar | PhD | Dren Bio, Inc. | From Academia to industry | |
| Arun Divakaruni | PhD | Self-employed | Scientific Communications: Building Bridges Between Science and Business | |
| Paul Moran | PhD | NOAA, Northwest Fisheries Science Center | Weighing Career Advice in Trying Times: Finding your Path to Professional Satisfaction | |
| Stewart Lyman | PhD | Lyman BioPharma Consulting, LLC | Looking Back: Lessons Learned from my First 35 Years in Research and Biotech | |
| 2013 | Bruce Watson | PhD | Bruce Watson Wine Consulting | A Biochemist’s Career in the Wine industry |
| Johnna Wesley | MPH, PhD, MBA | Protagonist Therapeutics | Tales from the ‘Dark’ Side: The Truth About Science in industry | |
| Jeff Shaver | PhD | University of Arkansas | Ignite Curiosity! Be the Teacher Or Mentor that you Had or Always Wanted | |
| Sarah Warren | PhD | Gilead Sciences | Preliminary Results – Observations on a Recent Transition from Graduate Student to Biotech Professional | |
| Devin Parry | PhD | Lakeside School, Seattle | Ph.D. to…High School? – One Teacher’s Perspective | |
| Cortney Chertova | PhD | Eli Lilly and Company | Drugs, Money, and Trials: The Life of a Regulatory Medical Writer | |
| Mara Jeffress | PhD | Red Oak Research | Getting Down to Business: Careers in Consulting | |
| Alex Berezow | PhD | Biotech | How a Microbiology Ph.D. Became an Editor, Science Writer and Book Author” | |
| John DesRosier | PhD | WA Life Sciences Discovery Fund | Has It Really Been 30 Years? A Not So Straightforward Career in the Life Sciences | |
| 2012 | Rafael Ponce | PhD | ToxAlliance LLC | From Academia to Biopharmaceutical Development |
| Julie Urvater | PhD | Lyell Immunopharma | Patent Agent: A Not-So Alternative Career in Science | |
| Toby Freedman | PhD | Synapsis Search Biotech Recruiting | Career Opportunities in Academia, Industry and Government | |
| Wendy Hansen | PhD | Optum – Providence Regional Medical Center Everett | Informal Science Education Careers | |
| Marion Dorer | PhD | Fred Hutch | From the Benchtop to the Desktop- A Career in Academic Administration | |
| Christiana DelloRusso | PhD | Self-Employed | Looking Out the Lab Window- A Serendipitous Path from Academic Research to Science Commercialization | |
| Darren Begley | PhD | GSK | Staying on Target: How to Leverage a Biomedica Science Career with A Ph.D. | |
| 2011 | Andrew McShea | PhD | Theo Chocolate | The Science of Dark Chocolate. Why A Molecular Biologist Ended Up in the World of Cocoa |
| David Sue | PhD | CDC | Is my Career Compass Broken? A Post-Doctoral Journey from Public Health Research to Academia, Then Back Again | |
| Margaret McCormick | PhD | Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason | From Amino Acids to Aircraft Fuel – Going Full Circle in Biology Applications | |
| Neile A. Grayson | PhD | Health2047 Inc. | From the Bench to the Corner office: The Value of Scientific Training in Product Development | |
| Gary Geiss | PhD | Monod Bio | The Rollercoaster Ride of a Biotech Start-Up: The Rewards and Challenges of Taking an Idea to a Commercial Product | |
| Robert Widmaier | PhD | Redhook Brewery | The Road Less Travelled: A Career Drinking Beer | |
| Andrew Mara | PhD | Office of the Secretary of Defense- Cost Analysis and Program Evaluation | Life after the Lab: Working in the Office of the Secretary of Defense (What’s A Nice Scientist Like You Doing in A Job Like This?) | |
| Dennis Miller | PhD | ZymoGenetics | The Ups and Downs of a Career in the Pharmaceutical/Biotechnology Industries | |
| 2010 | Arun Divakaruni | PhD | Weber Shandwick | Scientific Communications: Translating and Communicating Data for the Public |
| Jennifer Gardiner | PhD | Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation | Swimming with the Current: One Girl’s Path from Biomechanics and Cartilage to Biomarkers and Global Health | |
| Rob Carlson | PhD | BioDesic, LLC | Biology is Technology: The Promise, Peril, and New Business of Engineering Life | |
| Chris Palatucci | PhD | Palatucci Executive Search LLC | Career GPS: Planning your Route from Academia to Industry | |
| Michael Carleton | PhD | Targeted Growth | A Road Well Trampled: The Career Wanderings of a Cell Biologist | |
| Claudia Jochheim | PhD | CMC Consulting | The Rollercoaster of Developing Biotech Products | |
| Bryn Nelson | PhD | NA | How to Write About Sex, Dogs, and Robots for Fun and Profit (Or How to Leverage Your Ph.D.as an Effective Translator of Science) | |
| Laura Zahn | PhD | Science Magazine | Options Beyond Academia in Scientific Editing | |
| 2009 | Bob Silverstein | PhD | Microsoft Corporation | User Experience Research: Building the Right Product…Better |
| Heather Arnett | PhD | Amgen | Demystifying the Black Box of Biotech: What Does a Scientist in industry Actually Do? | |
| Steve Froggett | PhD | USDA | Science Policy in the Global Marketplace: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly | |
| Eric Blackstone | PhD, MBA | UW TechTransfer | TechTransfer: from Bench to Bedside, Via the Boardroom | |
| Gonzalo Domingo | PhD | PATH | Development of Appropriate Technologies for Low Resource Settings: A Multidisciplinary Approach | |
| Beverly Girten | PhD | NASA Ames Research Center | Outside Academia: Bioscience Research in Pharma and at NASA | |
| Cliff Mintz | PhD | Mintz Medical Communications | My Life as a Medical Writer | |
| Shawn Iadonato | PhD | Kineta | Preparing for Opportunities in the Biotechnology Industry | |
| Erin McClelland | PhD | Lakeside School | Perspectives on Teaching at an Independent High School | |
| 2008 | Adriana Osorio | PhD | Booz Allen Hamilton | Bringing Bench Science Solutions to Complex Problems: Careers in Scientific Consulting |
| Karen Canady | PhD, JD | Canady and Lortz LLP | From Lab Rat to Law Geek: Life as a Patent Attorney | |
| Ayana Moore | PhD | Family Health International | From Benchtop to Bedside: Navigating the Path Through Clinical Research | |
| Melanie Roberts | PhD | National Science Foundation | Speaking Truth to Power: Careers in Science Policy | |
| Pranhitha Reddy | PhD | Amgen | Drug Development: From the Bench to the Clinic and Career Opportunities For Phds | |
| Kate Loughney | PhD | freelance | Dealing with Data: From Bench Science to Medical Writing | |
| Stephanie Florio | PhD | Amgen | Adaptation & Growth During Turbulent Times in Pharm/Biotech | |
| Pat Gray | PhD | Accelerator Corporation | Starting a Biotech: How Great Ideas & Venture Funding Sometimes Work | |
| Antoniu Fantana | PhD | Department of Cellular & Molecular Biology,Harvard University | There & Back Again: One Scientist’s Journey from Consulting to Academia | |
| 2007 | Reitha Weeks | PhD | Northwest Association for Biomedical Research | In and out of the Biotech Industry |
| Elisa Eiseman | PhD | RAND Corporation | Careers in Science: The Long & Winding Road | |
| Maureen Munn | PhD | UW Genome Sciences | Science Education Outreach: Bridging the Research and Education Communities | |
| Caryn Abrey | PhD | Lakeside School | Panel Session: Life After Thesis: The Advantages of Teaching at an Independent High School | |
| James Kellog | PhD | Lakeside School | Panel Session: Life After Thesis: The Advantages of Teaching at an Independent High School | |
| Stephen Fisher | PhD | Lakeside School | Panel Session: Life After Thesis: The Advantages of Teaching at an Independent High School | |
| Thomas Artiss | PhD | Lakeside School | Panel Session: Life After Thesis: The Advantages of Teaching at an Independent High School | |
| 2006 | Linda Zuckerman | PhD | Zymogenetics | The ABC’s of Biotech Careers: Academic Alternatives, Biotechnology Options and Corporate Science |
| Shane Smith | PhD | Shane Smith Consulting | Stem Cells, Hollywood, and my Career in Public Affairs | |
| Joanne Marzowski | PhD | WSP Crime Laboratory | Highlights of Criminalistics and Crime Scene Investigation at the Washington State Patrol Crime Laboratory | |
| Bree Mitchell | PhD | Intel Corporation | Life Sciences Research: The New Frontier for High-Tech Companies | |
| David Klurfeld | PhD | U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agriculture Research Service | Managing Federal Science: Guide for the Perplexed | |
| Charlie Bamforth | PhD | Department of Food Science and Technology, UC Davis | Suds is Serious Science | |
| Rajendrani Mukhopadhyay | PhD | Analytical Chemistry & Journal of Proteome Research American Chemical Society | Living by the Pen, Not Pipette: Science Writing as a Career | |
| Darlyne Murawski | PhD | NA, Freelance | Following Your Passion and Facing Reality: Insights from a Biologist-Turned-Nature Photographer/Writer | |
| Michael Manion | PhD | Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center | Technology Transfer: Disseminating Discovery Science to Improve Medicine | |
| 2005 | Doug Bradley | PhD, JD | Rosetta Inpharmatics LLC | From Science to Law: Opportunities and Pitfalls |
| Michael King | PhD | Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical R&D | Alternative Careers For Ph.D.’s | |
| Asha Nayak | MD, PhD | Medtronic Vascular | Opportunities in the Medical Device Industry and How to Reach Them | |
| Wendy Law | PhD | Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center | Networking Your Way into Non-Traditional Careers | |
| David M. Northrop | PhD | Washington State Patrol, Crime Laboratory Division | Panel: The Realities of Forensic Chemistry and DNA Analysis | |
| Gary Shutler | PhD | Washington State Patrol, Crime Laboratory Division | Panel: The Realities of Forensic Chemistry and DNA Analysis | |
| Ricki Lewis | PhD | University of New York at Albany | When Worlds Collide: Science Journalism | |
| Beth Etscheid | PhD | Washington Research Foundation | Translating Lab Experience into the Business World | |
| 2004 | Melissa Rhodes | PhD | Erimos Pharmaceutical | From Government Postdoc to Medical Science Liaison |
| Davin Dillon | PhD | Corixa Corporation | Business Development in Biotech industry | |
| Jennifer Loertscher | PhD | Seattle University | Wow, I Got a Job, First Year on the Tenure Track at a Primarily Undergraduate Institution | |
| Douglas Holtzman | PhD | The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation | Panel: Careers in Global Health | |
| Peter M. Small | MD | The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation | Panel: Careers in Global Health | |
| Michele Garfinkel | PhD | Center for the Advancement of Genomics | Think Tanks | |
| David Crotty | PhD | Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press | Unknown | |
| Patricia Beckmann | PhD | Vulcan | Unknown | |
| Al Teich | PhD | American Association for the Advancement of Science | Unknown | |
| Dr. J | PhD | Central Inteligence Agency | The Real X Files: A CIA Scientist Talks About Careers at “The Agency” | |
| Melinda Moree | PhD | PATH | Unknown | |
| 2003 | Clarissa Dirks | PhD | Howard Hughes Undergraduate Programs, UW | Careers in Educational Program Management |
| Ronald Hitzeman | PhD | Genotypes, Inc | Biotechnology Start-Up and Management: My Career at Genentech and Beyond |