How I can help

I was once a STEM graduate student who spent nights and weekends in the lab, driven by curiosity. As an international student on an F-1 visa, I also lived with constant uncertainty about stability, identity, and what came next. I wasn’t a standout student or a star researcher. I failed many times, and yet I kept going, stayed on track, and eventually moved into the biotech and pharmaceutical industry.

During my PhD, I focused on hematopoietic stem cell research. While preparing for my thesis defense, I found a LinkedIn posting for a senior scientist position at Novartis and reached out directly to the hiring manager. They were looking for someone with a hematology background to join their in vivo gene therapy program for sickle cell disease, and I got the job. That was my entry into industry, and I’ve worked in drug development ever since.

Graduate school doesn’t teach you how to find a job. Nobody shows you how to find mentors, write a cold email, or ask for an informational interview. Much of what I learned came from searching online and from people willing to give me their time.

One of them was a program director I reached out to near the end of my time at Novartis. We had never met. I asked for a casual coffee chat, and before I could even explain why, she understood that I was about to be back on the job market with a family depending on me. She listened to me as a person, not just as a scientist. I’ve never forgotten it.