2012 Schedule of Events in the Futures in Life Science Seminar Series:

January 17th: Overview of the Life Sciences Landscape and Career Paths - http://fils12012.eventbrite.com/

February 21st: Consulting Career Paths in the Life Science Industry - http://fils22012.eventbrite.com

March 20th: Commercialization 1 (Marketing, Product Management, Business Development) Career Paths - http://fils32012.eventbrite.com/

April 17th: Research and Development Career Paths - http://fils42012.eventbrite.com/

May 22nd: Clinical Development/Medical Affairs Career Paths - http://fils52011.eventbrite.com/

September 11th: Bio-Informatics/Modeling Career Paths - http://fils62012.eventbrite.com/

October 16th: Commercialization 2 (Reimbursement, Pharmacoeconomics, and Market Access) Career Paths - http://fils72012.eventbrite.com/

November 20th: Finance, Legal, Operations Career Paths - http://fils82012.eventbrite.com/

Together, Propel Careers, MassBio, and MassBioEd are committed to fostering the next generation of industry leaders in the life sciences. We believe that the career paths that exist in the Massachusetts Life Science Industry are numerous, exciting, and rewarding and that it is imperative that students considering these careers be well informed regarding the areas that their education and training are relevant. We have identified a need to promote awareness of opportunities within life sciences companies, ranging from research and development to marketing and commercialization. Many students with science backgrounds pursue careers involving lab-based research, but we also want to ensure that other career paths are highlighted, that involve a high degree of technical and scientific knowledge, but that are not based in the lab.

With this in mind, we have organized a year-long program that will provide in-depth overviews of specific careers in the life science industry that often require advanced degrees. We have focused on covering the various functional areas in the life sciences sector including R&D, commercial, business development, finance, bioinformatics, reimbursement, and legal. Most graduate students and post-docs are well prepared to take numerous directions in their careers, and it is our intent to provide a comprehensive understanding of the aptitudes and work environments that are associated with specific career paths, so that the individuals who attend these events can make more informed career decisions. We are also big believers in the power of connections and networking, so each seminar will have specific time set aside to meet the presenters and the attendees and to develop relationships that will be an asset to those in attendance.

The program was launched in 2011 with an average attendance of 80 graduate students per event. Each event has a panel discussion comprised of industry leaders who provide an overview of the life sciences landscape and various career opportunities which exist in the industry. The first seminar of each series provides an overview with the next seven seminars providing deep dives focusing on specific functional areas. The individual seminars are scheduled to accommodate the academic school year with a focus on the technical or scientific expertise that is relevant to each area and the typical work environment associated with common roles.

About the Organizers

MassBio - MassBio, a not-for-profit organization that represents and provides services and support for the Massachusetts biotechnology industry, is the nation's oldest biotechnology trade association. Founded in 1985, MassBio is committed to advancing the development of critical new science, technology and medicines that benefit people worldwide. Representing over 600 biotechnology companies, academic institutions, research hospitals, and service organizations involved in life sciences and health care, MassBio works to advance policy and promote education, while providing member programs and events, industry information, and services. To learn more, visit: http://www.massbio.org

MassBioEd - The Massachusetts Biotechnology Education Foundation, founded in 2001, is a non-profit charitable organization committed to supporting science and biotechnology education in Massachusetts through school programs, workforce training, and lifelong learning. MassBioEd is closely affiliated with the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council and helps the Council in fulfilling its goals to nurture the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) pipeline in Massachusetts. To learn more, visit http://www.massbioed.org

Propel Careers - Propel Careers is a Boston based life sciences search and career development firm founded in 2009 to foster entrepreneurship and to cultivate leaders in the life sciences industry. Propel recognizes the importance of job creation and career development opportunities to the success of the industry as well as to next generation of industry leaders. The mission of Propel Careers is to make connections that fuel innovation, and we do this through placement, networking, coaching and mentorship. To learn more, visit http://www.propelcareers.com

Propel Careers, MassBio, and the MassBioEd have joined together to organize a series of networking and panel events focused on raising awareness of career paths that exist in life sciences for individuals with advanced degrees. This Futures in Life Science program will bring together experts across a wide range of disciplines and functional areas within the life science industry, who will detail their roles and will provide a rich context for the audience to gain a clear understanding of the skills, aptitudes, competencies, and personalities that thrive in their particular functions.

On May 17th 2011, Propel Careers, MassBio, and MassBioEd will host our next Futures in Life Science Seminar Event Program. This event will focus on the Clinical Development, Regulatory, and Medical Affairs areas within the life sciences industry and will focus on the various career options within these areas. This panel discussion and networking event has an esteemed lineup of individuals who will share their perspectives.

Attendance for this program is open to current graduate students, post doctoral fellows, and medical residents who are interested in careers in the life sciences industry. Space is limited to 100 individuals. Below are more details for the event including registration details:

Date: May 17th, 2011

Location: MassBio Offices, One Cambridge Center, Cambridge, MA 02142

Time: 5:30pm – 8:00pm

To register: http://futuresinlifesciences4.eventbrite.com/

Meeting Agenda:

5:30pm-6:00pm – Registration and Open Networking 6:00pm-6:10pm – Introductions, Overview, and Recognition of Sponsors

6:10pm-7:30pm – Panel Discussion

Moderator: Laurie Halloran, President and CEO at Halloran Consulting Group

Panelists: Dana Martin, PharmD Senior Director, Medical Affairs, Genzyme; Kevin Pojasek, PhD VP, Corporate Development, Kala Pharma; Mike Poole, MD CMO, Link Medicine; Shawna Cullen, Ph.D., Clinical Trial Head, Oncology, Novartis; Patrick Melvin, Executive Director, Clinical Development, INC Research

7:30pm-8:00pm – Open Networking

Additional events are being planned for the areas below.

September: Bio-Informatics/Modeling

October: Commercialization 2 (Reimbursement/Market Access/Pharmacoeconomics)

November: Finance, Legal, Operations

Lauren Celano recently moderated a panel for the Mass General Hospital (MGH) postdoctoral association in Boston MA about The Business Side of Science. This panel discussed how scientists make the transition into the life sciences industry and more specifically into the business side of the industry. The panel even touched on how scientists can start or lead their own companies. This event is part of a series of events that the MGH postdoctoral association holds to provide career development to the members of the association.

An expert and distinguished panel was assembled including: Abbie Celniker, CEO of Taligen Therapeutics, Alain Stricker-Krongrad, Chief Scientific Officer and Senior Vice-President Science and Business Development at Biomedical Research Models, Albert Luderer, CEO & Board Member of Integrated Diagnostics, and Katherine Turner, Chief Development Officer of Attogen Inc.

Below are a few takeaways:

The types of business careers could include roles such as: business development, marketing, product management, program management, strategy, consulting, team lead, scientific lead

An MBA is not required to transition into the business side of the industry, however an MBA can provide useful tools. There are ways to learn the business skills needed without a formal MBA. You can always take specific business courses or learn business skills from colleagues.

Scientists have many transferrable skills – ability to synthesize data, decision making, perseverance, work ethic, planning and project management, for those who give talks – communication skills and presentation skills.

Big companies provide structure and learning, while small companies can provide more learning experiences. Both are worthwhile to experience at some point in ones career since both provide a unique perspective and insight into which is a better fit for you.

Mentors are important in shaping career development choices.

Serendipity is important.

Have a plan – it can change, but at least have one to start so that you can use it as a guide.

Volunteer to develop skills.

Make yourself a "go to" person at a company.

Be flexible, wiling to learn new things.

Define your own path – follow your passion, surround yourself with a good team.

Business is a lot about relationship building.

The power of your network is critically important as your career develops.

Keep in touch and follow up.

Relationships are built over time.

Network, network, network!

Futures in Life Sciences Program: Research and Development Panel discussion and networking event

Date: April 5th 2011

Location: MassBio Offices, One Cambridge Center, Cambridge, MA 02142

Time: 5:30pm – 8:00pm

To register: http://futuresinlifesciences3.eventbrite.com/

Propel Careers, MassBio, and the MassBioEd have joined together to organize a series of networking and panel events focused on raising awareness of career paths that exist in life sciences for individuals with advanced degrees. This Futures in Life Science program will bring together experts across a wide range of disciplines and functional areas within the life science industry, who will detail their roles and will provide a rich context for the audience to gain a clear understanding of the skills, aptitudes, competencies, and personalities that thrive in their particular functions.

Attendance for this program is open to current graduate students, post doctoral fellows, and medical residents who are interested in careers in the life sciences industry. Space is limited to 100 individuals.

The event will focus on the various career options within the Research and Development areas of the life sciences sector including: Bench Research, Business development, Discovery project management, preclinical, CMC/formulation, and Intellectual Property.

Meeting Agenda:

5:30pm-6:00pm – Registration and Open Networking

6:00pm-6:10pm – Introductions, Overview, and Recognition of Sponsors

6:10pm-7:30pm – Panel Discussion Ken Olivier, Ph.D Director of Toxicology, Merrimack Pharmaceuticals; Kevin Sprott, PhD , Verastem; Jared Silverman, PhD Vice President, In Vitro Biology, Cubist

7:30pm-8:00pm – Open Networking

Additional events are being planned for the areas below. The specific dates in September, October, and November for each seminar are still TBD, but will be scheduled as follows:

May 17th 2011: Clinical Development/Medical Affairs: http://futuresinlifesciences4.eventbrite.com/

September: Bio-Informatics/Modeling

October: Commercialization 2 (Reimbursement/Market Access/Pharmacoeconomics)

November: Finance, Legal, Operations

Food and refreshments will be provided at each event, and all events will have ample time included to meet and network with the panelists and other attendees.

On March 8th 2011, the next event in the Futures in Life Science series will be held at the MassBio offices in Kendall Sq Cambridge MA. This event, Commercialization 1, will focus on the Marketing, Product Management, and Business Development areas of the life sciences sector. Details for the event are below:

Date: March 8th 2011

Location: MassBio Offices, One Cambridge Center, Cambridge, MA 02142

Time: 5:30pm – 8:00pm

To register: http://futuresinlifesciences2.eventbrite.com/

Propel Careers, MassBio, and the MassBioEd have joined together to organize a series of networking and panel events focused on raising awareness of career paths that exist in life sciences for individuals with advanced degrees. This Futures in Life Science program will bring together experts across a wide range of disciplines and functional areas within the life science industry, who will detail their roles and will provide a rich context for the audience to gain a clear understanding of the skills, aptitudes, competencies, and personalities that thrive in their particular functions.

Attendance for this program is open to current graduate students, post doctoral fellows, and medical residents who are interested in careers in the life sciences industry. Space is limited to 100 individuals.

To learn more about the series, see link: http://www.propelcareers.com/index.cfm/events/futures-in-life-science-series/

The latest in a seemingly endless conga line of winter storms barreled through the Boston area last night, but it didn't put a damper on the kickoff meeting for the Futures in Life Science program. Propel Careers is partnering with MassBio and the MassBioEd Foundation on the year-long seminar series, which is focused on providing graduate students and post-docs with expert insights from industry professionals working in a range of disciplines and functions within the life science industry. Last night's event was hosted by MassBio and the audience filled their large meeting room. We thought there might be a drop off in attendance because of the storm, but about 120 students, post-docs, and medical residents braved the weather to network, listen to the panel discussion, and then meet and mingle with the speakers.

The panelists included Alex Szidon, Ph.D. from Novartis, Arthur Hiller, M.S. from Hiller Life Sciences Strategies, Kevin Sprott, Ph.D., from Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Slava Akmaev, PhD, from GNS Healthcare, and Dennis Meletiche, PharmD, from EMD Serono. Each panelist provided a brief overview of and highlights from their careers, as well as insights into their specific roles and how they ended up where they are now. They all have different backgrounds and work in different areas, but there were common themes that ran through their discussion and comments. Each speaker had anecdotes about serendipity or luck playing a part in their career paths, and all of them stated that they if they hadn't recognized and seized those opportunities, they might have passed them by. They prescribed increasing one's knowledge and understanding of different roles through networking, as well as reflecting on careers where one could picture him/her self being happy and having fun. These were welcome comments, since it is the stated goal of the Futures in Life Science program to provide a platform for graduate students and post docs to do just that: network, make new connections, and become more informed about the life science industry and the many rewarding careers that can be pursued. Propel Careers is a firm believer that career decisions and career development are greatly enhanced by increasing your knowledge, perspectives, and contacts. One comment from a panelist that resonated with me was that there are careers in the life science industry for people from every background. We are striving to shed some light on those careers and to make new and valuable connections for the participants in this program.

We hope to see you at one of the six seminars scheduled for the remainder of this year! Stay tuned for details including the dates, locations, and panelists for those events. We will be broadcasting updates via email, LinkedIn and Twitter. You can also go to our events page for current information. http://www.propelcareers.com/index.cfm/events/

Futures in Life Science Program - Kick-off meeting, panel discussion, and networking event

Date: January 26, 2011

Time: 5:30-8:00pm

Location: MassBio, One Cambridge Center, Cambridge, MA 02142. http://www.massbio.org/

Details to register: http://futuresinlifesciences1.eventbrite.com/

Propel Careers, MassBio, and the MassBioEd have joined together to organize a series of networking and panel events focused on raising awareness of career paths that exist in life sciences for individuals with advanced degrees. This Futures in Life Science program will bring together experts across a wide range of disciplines and functional areas within the life science industry, who will detail their roles and will provide a rich context for the audience to gain a clear understanding of the skills, aptitudes, competencies, and personalities that thrive in their particular functions.

Attendance for this program is open to current graduate students and post doctoral fellows who are interested in careers in the life sciences industry. Food and refreshments will be provided at each event, and all events will have ample time included to meet and network with the panelists and other attendees.

Kick-off Meeting Agenda: 5:30pm-6:00pm – Registration and Open Networking

6:00pm-6:10pm – Introductions and Overview: MassBio, MassBioEd, Propel Careers

6:10pm-7:30pm – Panel Discussion on Career Paths in Life Sciences. Commercialization: Alex Szidon, Ph.D., Director, Strategic Alliances, Translational Sciences & New Indication Discovery Unit, Novartis Institute for Biomedical Sciences; Sales and Marketing: Arthur Hiller, M.S., President, Hiller Life Sciences Strategies, LLC; R&D: Kevin Sprott, Ph.D., Principal Investigator, Ironwood Pharmaceuticals; Clinical Development and Medical Affairs: Kevin Pojasek, Ph.D., Executive Director, Development, Satori Pharmaceuticals; Bioinformatics: Slava Akmaev, PhD, Vice President, Scientific Affairs, GNS Healthcare; Reimbursement/Market Access/Pharmacoeconomics: Dennis M. Meletiche, PharmD, Vice President, Health Outcomes & Market Access, EMD Serono, Inc; Financing: Kevin Bitterman, Ph.D., Principal, Polaris Ventures

7:30pm-8:00pm – Open Networking

The program, launched on January 26th, will be followed by six seminars focusing on specific areas:

March: Commercialization 1 (Marketing/Product Management/Business Development)

April: Research and Development

May: Clinical Development/Medical Affairs

September: Bio-Informatics/Modeling

October: Commercialization 2 (Reimbursement/Market Access/Pharmacoeconomics)

November: Finance, Legal, Operations

Propel Careers, MassBio, and MassBioEd to launch "Futures in Life Science", a year-long seminar series focused on career paths for graduate students and post-docs.

Boston, MA and Cambridge, MA - January 6, 2011: Propel Careers, MassBio, and the MassBioEd Foundation today announced the launch of a collaboration focused on raising awareness of career paths that exist in the life sciences for individuals with advanced degrees. The Futures in Life Science program will bring together experts across a wide range of disciplines and functional areas within the life science industry, who will detail their roles and provide a rich context for the audience to gain a clear understanding of the skills, aptitudes, competencies, and personalities that thrive in their particular functions.

This program will kick off January 26th at the MassBio and MassBioEd offices in Cambridge, MA. The session will include a general overview of the life science industry and six key career areas of interest. This will be followed by six sessions that will provide more detailed "deep dives" into specific areas including R&D, Product Commercialization, Clinical Development and Medical Affairs, Bio-Informatics, Market Access and Outcomes Research, as well as Finance, Legal and Operations roles. All events will also have time included to meet and network with the panelists and other attendees.

The program stems from a continued need identified by many state and non-governmental organizations to increase awareness and education related to careers in science and technology. Together, Propel Careers, MassBio, and MassBioEd are all committed to providing resources that encourage the pursuit of careers in the life science industry and believe that careers exist for students across all academic disciplines. The Futures in Life Science program will highlight these areas and will increase awareness of the associated career paths.

"We believe that many graduate students, post-docs, and medical residents do not consider the full range of career options that they could pursue and this program is intended to address that," said Lauren Celano, MBA, Chief Executive Officer of Propel Careers. "It's all about knowledge, understanding, and effective positioning, and we feel students that attend these seminars will be better equipped and more targeted in their job searches. We are thrilled to partner with MassBio and MassBioEd on this important effort."

"As Massachusetts biotechnology companies continue to grow, we must ensure Massachusetts can provide the broad spectrum of talent they will need in positions across their organizations," said Lance Hartford, Executive Director of MassBioEd. "We know Massachusetts' graduate students, post docs and medical residents have a lot to offer the industry and hope to open doors to potential career paths and opportunities."

Details of the program, including the schedule of events, can be found at the Propel Careers website ( http://www.propelcareers.com/index.cfm/events/ ). The kickoff meeting is scheduled for January 26th from 5:30-8:00 PM. The remaining events will also be held during the same evening time slot, but the specific dates of each seminar will be updated and publicized as they are confirmed. These events will also be videotaped and archived versions will be available online.

About MassBio http://www.massbio.org MassBio, a not-for-profit organization that represents and provides services and support for the Massachusetts biotechnology industry, is the nation's oldest biotechnology trade association. Founded in 1985, MassBio is committed to advancing the development of critical new science, technology and medicines that benefit people worldwide. Representing over 600 biotechnology companies, academic institutions, research hospitals, and service organizations involved in life sciences and health care, MassBio works to advance policy and promote education, while providing member programs and events, industry information, and services.

About MassBioEd http://www.massbioed.org The Massachusetts Biotechnology Education Foundation, founded in 2001, is a non-profit charitable organization committed to supporting science and biotechnology education in Massachusetts through school programs, workforce training, and lifelong learning. MassBioEd is closely affiliated with the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council and helps the Council in fulfilling its goals to nurture the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) pipeline in Massachusetts.

About Propel Careers http://www.propelcareers.com Propel Careers is a Boston based life sciences search and career development firm founded in 2009 to foster entrepreneurship and to cultivate leaders in the life sciences industry. Propel recognizes the importance of job creation and career development opportunities to the success of the industry as well as to the next generation of industry leaders. The mission of Propel Careers is to make connections that fuel innovation, and we do this through placement, networking, coaching and mentorship.

As 2010 comes to a close, we are actively discussing internship hiring plans for 2011 with current and prospective clients. Many of these discussions focus on connections with graduate students (MBA, Ph.D./MBA, MD/MBA, Engineering, Law, etc) who often have significant life sciences industry experience prior to graduate school. We are also discussing opportunities for scientific and business focused undergraduate students.

We are assisting companies with internship projects such as: market research assessments, competitive landscape assessments, financial valuation and M&A analysis, technology evaluation, IP evaluation, reimbursement evaluations, business plan development, strategic partnership assessments, clinical research, discovery and pre-clinical R&D, marketing and corporate communications, and grant writing.

Our experience has been that life science companies gain tangible benefits by engaging with a partner like Propel who can assist matching their current or anticipated needs with top talent from local and national universities. Hiring interns offers a low cost and low risk solution to provide project support as well as to assess their skills and personality fit to see if they are aligned with your company prior to hiring full time. We are pleased that many companies are looking ahead and preparing now to take advantage of the opportunity to build relationships with the best and brightest students and also gain significant advantages through the projects that can be completed.

We are constantly connecting with graduate and undergraduate students throughout the US with skills relevant in the medical device, bio-pharmaceutical, diagnostics, and Healthcare IT sectors as well with those who have skills relevant to consulting, investment banking and venture capital firms. Our network includes students who have diverse backgrounds including research and development, business, law, engineering, marketing, and public health. The ability for companies and students to benefit from the connections made is tremendous.

As you think about your hiring needs for 2011, we look forward to working with you to make connections for internship projects, in addition to any full time needs that you have. Please contact Lauren Celano at Lauren@propelcareers.com or 617-896-5225 to discuss this in more detail.

I was chatting with a current undergraduate about her career aspirations yesterday and realized that the discussion was relevant to a wider audience. She is a hard science major with great applied research experience and is looking to get some life science industry experience before she goes back to graduate school. We were talking about specific companies where she was interested in either interning or working full-time, and she had identified two companies whose technology was closely aligned with her research. This leads me to my first point.

If you are an undergraduate or graduate student and are involved with research projects that are your own, or even an advisor's, post-doc's, etc., search for companies doing similar research. This may sound obvious, but I've spoken to enough students to know that this is not something that many people do. The young woman I was speaking with is conducting her own very impressive academic research in the areas of cell signaling, micro-RNA, and oncology. So what did she do? She identified two companies doing early stage research in...cell signaling, micro-RNA, and oncology. Brilliant! Now, it's not that she sees this as the only direction she could take, but it could certainly increase her chances of getting an opportunity with these companies, since she will most likely understand their research at a very high level, would be able to contribute right away, and might have contacts within her specialized research area that could help her. She wasn't sure what kind of role she would be most interested, but by identifying companies doing research she was familiar with and passionate about, she at least knows that there will be interest in the mission and the science. For people in academic research settings who are seeking industry experience, but don't know exactly what they want to do, this is an approach that I would highly recommend.

Ok, so she has these two companies identified, now what? Propel Careers would be able to assist her if we are currently working with those companies on finding talent, or if we are able to establish a relationship with them to work with them on connections to talent. We also suggest that individuals become proactive and take charge of their search, and since she has already researched these companies, I had a couple suggestions where she could take it a step further. This leads to my second point:

1. Make a list of all the people at the company of interest who are likely be published in scientific or medical journals (scientists, medical directors, Chief Science Officer, etc.)

2. Conduct a literature search of those individuals

3. Take the results of that search and look through it for researchers or co-investigators who are at your current college or university

4. If you find people at your university, introduce yourself to them and see I if they would be willing to introduce you directly to the person of interest, or at least make an introduction that gets you closer

Voila! Social networking for researchers! And that leads me to the final point; you can use existing social networking tools such as LinkedIn, Plaxo, Doostang, Facebook, etc. to augment your "research". If you find a name that you think would be a good contact but can't locate them or identify a way to get introduced, try to contact them via a social network. You can also tie a recruiter back into the process by running through what you've found. They will let you know if they think they can generate some "traction" with that information to help your cause, or if you are better off pursuing the information and leads directly.

There a myriad of resources available for people looking to connect with others. In scientific literature you have a large and potentially untapped resource for identifying how researchers are related. Plus you might also find some cool papers that you can dive into during all your free time.