Consultant Spotlight - December 2024

How long have you been with miLEAD? 

Since the spring of 2023 (almost 2 years).

What is the focus of your research?

My research focuses on understanding how mRNA substrates are selected for modification and what the functional consequences of these modifications are!

What are your current career goals?

Currently, I aspire to become a research team lead in the biotechnology industry.

What roles have you played on projects? 

I have completed two projects as a consultant, and was recently promoted to project manager!

What led you to seek out miLEAD?

I was interested in exploring non-academic career options while also developing and polishing soft professional skills. miLEAD not only provides hands on experience with consulting and developing real-world professional skills, but has an extensive alumni network spanning numerous non-academic careers that I could engage with. I wanted to take advantage of both aspects to best position myself for entering into my future career.

Since joining miLEAD, what skills have you been able to develop?

I've definitely improved upon many skills - oral presentation, graphic development, visual organization of slides, clear and effective communication, to name a few.

I also developed brand new skills as well: concisely relaying information (particularly of a scientific nature) both in slide format and verbally, performing market research, conducting interviews, and managing several competing tasks at once (e.g. class, miLEAD, research, outreach, etc).

What has been one of your most rewarding experiences thus far working with miLEAD? 

My most recent project exposed me to the world of biotech start-ups. Prior to this experience, I only had abstract concepts about how start-ups functioned. It was eye-opening to learn about the finances involved in running a start-up, the wide-variety of roles that founding members played (e.g. one of the founders was a STEM post-doc, is now the CTO, and was helping with recruiting investors and the financial side of the business), and the kinds of market analysis that are critical for the start-up to move in the right direction. This experience definitely gave me a new perspective on, and experience with, biotechnology start-ups that I will take with me into my future career.