Networking and practical skills for success were recurring themes at the 27th Annual NIEHS Biomedical Career Symposium April 15-16. The event featured panels with industry experts, workshops about biomedical science careers, and one-on-one resume consultations.

“We were thrilled and grateful to host the event at NIEHS,” said Mercy Arana, Ph.D., who leads the NIEHS Office of Fellows’ Career Development (OFCD). “Nearly 200 students and early-career scientists attended, along with 58 exhibitors, panelists, and speakers, and 24 event organizers.”

Arana’s office sponsored the symposium and organized it with the NIEHS Trainees’ Assembly. Attendees learned practical skills in networking, career pivots, leadership, and salary negotiation. Over a lunch of pizza donated by area universities, attendees networked and met vendors that included biomedical companies, talent agencies, and career development services.

Growing through networking

Tammy Collins, Ph.D., program officer for the Burroughs Wellcome Fund and former OFCD director, attracted a large audience for her workshop. Using the acronym “PLANT it” with a gardening metaphor, she advised participants to:

• Pinpoint your current professional network.
• Locate where you need to grow your network.
• Approach individuals with curiosity and genuine understanding.
• Nourish your connections.
• Take action for life.

Dara Wilson-Grant, M.S.Ed., director of postdoctoral career and professional development at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, discussed the emotional aspects of changing careers.

“Losing our professional identity can really shake us up and leave us questioning who we are, where we belong, and even our place in the world,” she said.

Wilson-Grant also emphasized the importance of networking in exploring various options and transitioning away from academia.

“Nothing takes the place of talking with real people who are doing what you think you are interested in,” she said.

Insights from industry

An industry panel also underscored the importance of networking. Representatives from an array of companies and roles discussed career paths, essential skills, and industry trends across a broad range of opportunities in research and development, regulatory affairs, data science, consulting, and business development.

“Half or more of jobs in industry are filled by networking,” said Jacob Jacobsen, Ph.D., CEO and co-founder of Evecxia Therapeutics.

In addition, Joe Dahl, Ph.D., a former NIEHS postdoc who now leads the advanced research and development program at BioSkryb Genomics, said it is important to develop the ability to communicate scientific work at different levels of expertise.

“Be able to communicate clearly about how your skills from academia translate to industry,” added Elena Dukhovlinova, Ph.D., a principal scientist at Alcami Durham. She also encouraged attendees to look at other roles within companies that require scientific expertise and be willing to pivot to other scientific areas that involve the same skill set.

Overall, panelists stressed that the goal in industry is to turn scientific discovery into products. That can affect both the purpose and extent of product testing compared to approaches used in academia.

A Nobel laureate’s guide to success

Robert J. Lefkowitz, M.D., Chancellor’s Distinguished Professor of Medicine and professor of medicine, chemistry, pathology, and biochemistry at Duke University Medical Center, delivered the keynote address. Lefkowitz won the 2012 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his studies of G protein-coupled receptors on cell surfaces. This work revolutionized scientists’ understanding of how cells respond to hormones and how certain types of drugs exert their actions.

Lefkowitz shared a guide for career success while recounting his 55-year career, which included serving as a clinical and research associate at the National Institutes of Health from 1968-70. He interspersed his talk with humorous anecdotes and described eventually choosing full-time research over clinical medicine, which had been his original career goal and childhood dream.

He urged attendees to, “Be ambitious, don’t be afraid to fail, and be doggedly persistent.”