ThePostdocWay's Podcast ThePostdocWay

From academia to business development. Idella Yamben, PhD is currently the Program Manager for the Center for Technology Commercialization (CTC) at UW-Extension. In this role, she administers the CTC micro-grants and coordinates outreach activities to assist technology entrepreneurs in commercializing their innovations. Since graduate school, Dr. Yamben has had a passion for mentoring and training students interested in scientific careers. She developed and managed a mentoring program for undergraduates in the life sciences in collaboration with faculty and staff at the UW-Madison. Curious about career trajectories in the sciences, Mrs. Yamben took a position as a scientific recruiter for Kelly Scientific Resources. Here, she staffed entry to senior management positions for a variety of scientific companies within Wisconsin. In this role, she also managed the 2012 Career Connection program for the 2012 BioForward Vision Summit and served on the Future Scientist Internship program committee for Kelly Scientific representing the East Coast and Midwest regions. Dr. Yamben continues to mentor scientists in early career transitions and has had the opportunity to present at the Medical College of Wisconsin, University of Arkansas Medical College, and the 2011 BioForward Career Connection program.  Mrs. Yamben earned a BS in biology from University of Chicago and a PhD in Cellular and Molecular Biology from UW-Madison.

David M. Giltner, Ph.D. is a physicist by training, and a product manager at Zolo Technologies, a company that develops laser-based combustion monitoring systems for industrial furnaces.  He spent most of his graduate career thinking he would follow the traditional scientist career path into academia. It was during his final year in grad school that he decided the lifestyle and career of a professor was just not for him.  Two months after defending his dissertation, he moved to California with a three month consulting contract from a silicon valley laser company as his only career prospect. In the 17 years since then, he has held a wide range of positions developing laser-based products for optical communications, materials processing, remote sensing, and lab instrumentation applications.  In that time, not once has he regretted his decision to make the leap from the 'traditional' science career path to the world of product development. He remembers the challenge of selling himself as a scientist in an engineer’s world, however, so in 2010 he published “Turning Science into Things People Need.” This book contains interviews with other scientists who successfully made the transition from science research into industry.  It is a very useful career reference for any scientist who is considering a similar move and wants to understand what to expect and how to best position themselves to create a rewarding career. This Spotlight Conversation was conducted and recorded by Dr. Brian Postdoc from ThePostdocWay on October 2013.

Dr. Kamens received her PhD in Genetics from Harvard Medical School then spent 15 years at BASF/Abbott, ultimately serving as Group Leader in Molecular Biology.  In 2007 she joined RXi Pharmaceuticals as Senior Director of Research Collaborations.  In 2011, Dr. Kamens became the Executive Director of Addgene, a mission driven, nonprofit dedicated to helping scientists around the world share plasmid reagents.  Dr. Kamens has been raising awareness of women scientists since 1998 upon realizing that an entire week had gone by at work and not one other woman had been at any meeting she attended.  Dr. Kamens founded the current Boston chapter of the Association for Women in Science and was Director of the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association Boston Group Mentoring Program for 3 years.  In 2010, Dr. Kamens received the Catalyst Award from the Science Club for Girls and is a Fellow of the Massachusetts Academy of Science.  In 2013 she was recognized as a PharmaVoice 100 Most Inspiring.  She lives in Newton, MA with her husband the rocket scientist and misses her two kids while they are in college. This interview was conducted, recorded, and edited by Dr. Brian Postdoc @ThePostdocWay on October 13, 2013.

Chad E. Beyer, PhD, MBA. Dr. Beyer is the President & CEO of Promentis Pharmaceuticals (www.promentispharma.com).  He is also a father, golfer, skier, assistant hockey coach and scientific professional with more than 15 years of experience in the development of medications designed to treat brain disorders.  
Prior to joining Promentis, Dr. Beyer worked in the Discovery Neuroscience group at Wyeth Pharmaceuticals. He held positions with increasing responsibility including serving as the Head of Neurochemistry and leading the Psychiatry Task Force. During his career at Wyeth, Dr. Beyer managed several drug discovery teams, contributed to the submission of more than 30 INDs and provided supporting data for the commercialization and life-cycle management of Effexor® and Pristiq® -- two blockbuster antidepressants.
Dr. Beyer’s research career began at the National Institutes of Health in NIDA’s Addiction Research Center and he subsequently received a PhD in Neuropharmacology from LSU Medical Center and an MBA from the Rutgers Business School. Notably, Chad has authored more than 70 manuscripts, 5 patents, is the co-editor of a psychiatry review book, is co-founder of the journal "Technology Transfer & Entrepreneurship” and is an adjunct faculty member at Thomas Jefferson University. This Spotlight Conversation was recorded and conducted by Dr. Brian Postdoc @ThePostdocWay on October 2013.

Prize-winning freelance journalist Beryl Lieff Benderly contributes both the monthly “Taken for Granted” column and frequent blog posts on science labor force and early-career issues and blogs to the Science magazine website. Her hundreds of articles have appeared in Miller-McCune, Scientific American, Scientific American Mind, Prism, Slate, Ladies Home Journal, Smithsonian and the New York Times and LA Times book reviews, among many other prominent publications. The author of 8 books, she has appeared on CNN, the “Today Show,” and several NPR stations and has taught science and health writing at the University of Maryland and in workshops co-sponsored by the International Center for Journalists and universities in Mexico, in Panama and Chile and the U.S. National Institutes of Health. Elected a Fellow of American Association for the Advancement of Science, she is treasurer of the National Association of Science Writers. Her 10 national writing prizes were awarded by IEEE-USA, the American Association of University Professors, the American Psychological Association and other organizations and cover topics including biomedical engineering, the scientific labor market, cancer genetics and linguistics. She prepared for her writing career by long ago earning an M.A. in anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania as a Woodrow Wilson Fellow and later dropping out of doctoral work at Washington University (St. Louis). This episode was recorded September 23 and conducted by Dr. Brian Postdoc for ThePostdocWay Spotlight Conversation Series.

PhD to Entrepreneur. In this spotlight, Dr. Laura Strong stops by to discuss her transition from organic chemist and bench scientist to entrepreneur. Dr. Strong is currently the President and Chief Operating Officer of Quintessence Biosciences. In this position, Dr. Strong is responsible for developing and executing the product development plan and overseeing the development of the human clinical plans for the company¹s drug products. Further, Dr. Strong is responsible for developing relationships with current and future customers and collaborators. As a National Institutes of Health predoctoral fellow, Dr. Strong earned a Ph.D. in organic chemistry at the University of Wisconsin­-Madison. Dr. Strong is co-author of fourteen publications and co-inventor on four patents.