Over the coming months, look for videos, stories and events that feature some of the many Wayne State initiatives and passionate individuals committed to eradicating health disparities. This content is part of WSU's Warriors in Action campaign highlighting how Wayne State is making a difference.
In 2013, Wayne State University was one of 17 institutions in the United States to receive a five-year, $1.8 million BEST (Broadening Experiences in Scientific Training) grant from the National Institutes of Health to help doctoral trainees learn about the multiple career pathways open to them beyond academic positions in university research settings.
This federal initiative provides Wayne State with an opportunity to take a leadership role in transforming graduate education in the biomedical sciences. While completing their Ph.D., students in the BEST program participate in a professional development curriculum that focuses on how their scientific training, problem-solving skills and analytical aptitude can help them achieve success in the biotech and pharmaceutical industries, patent and intellectual property law, state and federal government, and science communication.
“The BEST program provided me with a great opportunity to explore career options outside of academia while completing my doctorate in cancer biology,” says Sidra Ahsan, now a product manager at Advaita, a bioinformatics startup in Plymouth, Michigan. “My first inclination after finishing my Ph.D. was to secure a postdoc and then an assistant professorship. I knew research funding was tight, so I was also interested in industry positions. I just didn’t know how to go about preparing myself to make a transition.”
During the summer of 2014, Ahsan received a BEST award to engage in an eight-week career exploration at Advaita while continuing her research on neurofibromatosis-type I in Michael Tainsky’s lab at Wayne State.
According to the grant’s principal investigator, Dean of the Wayne State Graduate School Ambika Mathur, “Our goal is to help prepare doctoral trainees to meet the needs of the 21st century economy in a dynamic and evolving job market.”
For Ahsan, the internship was especially valuable for providing a broader view of the biomedical research enterprise and “the business side of science, which you don’t get in a Ph.D. program.” Upon graduation, she applied to Advaita for a permanent position and was quickly hired. Ahsan’s long-term career goal is to eventually start her own company in the metro Detroit area, and the BEST program has helped launch her on this career path.
For more information about BEST at Wayne State, visit wayne.edu/gradschool/best/ or contact Program Manager Heidi Kenaga at 313-577-5499. For details about the national NIH-BEST initiative, see nihbest.org.