Budding UR Scientists and Science Communicators

News Article by Tracey Baas, URBEST Executive Director

Emily Boynton and Molly Miles from URMC’s Department of Public Relations and Communications met with a small group of URBEST trainees to discuss how the Medical Center and other academic institutions are sharing science in the social world we live in. They provided some examples of different types of visuals and videos that get great engagement on Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites. The goal?  URBEST and The Public Relations and Communications team wanted to find and offer prizes for three original visuals or videos from students and trainees that highlight UR innovation and research. Money, video packs and fame!

Dream Crushing Leads to Better Ideas

News Article by Omar Bakht, PhD, Director of UR Ventures and Founder of New York Medical Angels

They call me a “Dream Crusher” and I take a mild offense to it.  As the Director of New Ventures at the University of Rochester and the founder of New York Medical Angels, it’s my job to listen to people’s business ideas.  In my career, I’ve heard many business ideas and most of them not well thought out. Sometimes, I have to tell people that their idea is not worth moving forward and no one really likes to hear that, so I guess that explains the “crushing” label.

Pursuing a Career in Regulatory Science and Drug Development

Career Story by David McMillan, Ph.D., Toxicologist at U.S. Food & Drug Administration

Academia, industry and government: I was always aware of the three career tracks available to biomedical scientists, but as with most fledgling graduate students, I didn’t really know what differentiated them. Pursuit of an academic career was still somewhat en vogue when I started graduate school and it was the only path with which I was familiar. As industry was concerned, I at least understood the distinction between “industry” and “pharma”, but “government” remained elusive. What does it mean to be a government scientist?  Do they do bench research? If so, do they write grants? Who do they report to? How does the government monitor clinical trials for pharmaceuticals and ensure patient safety? Who sets policies on environmental toxicant exposure and how are these policies determined? And what exactly does “regulatory” mean?

Diversify Yourself and Your Work Experiences

Career Story by Elizabeth Schiavoni, MS, Life Sciences Writing Solutions LLC 

I am excited to share my science and medicine communications and outreach career story with biomedical PhD students exploring broad training experiences at the University of Rochester Medical Center at noon on May 17^th in the Northeastern Room (1-9525).

Get Prepared to Become a Successful Statistician in a Collaborative Research Environment

Career Story by Aiyi Liu, PhD, Senior Investigator, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), Biostatistics & Bioinformatics Branch

Statistics is perhaps one of the few professions that have seen steady job growth in the past 30 years or so, and the need for statisticians continues to grow today. Due to the applied nature of statistics, graduate students often find themselves landing on a job in a highly collaborative environment (e.g., medicine, public health) that requires not only good training in statistics, but also a fair understanding of subject matter, and perhaps more importantly, skills needed to be able to collaborate as a team member with non-statisticians. Most likely these important skills are not taught in classrooms and could potentially hinder the career growth of a statistician.