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Emerging Careers in the Life Sciences

Clifford S. Mintz, PhD

www.biojobblog.com

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University of Wisconsin (PhD)

OHSU & Columbia University (Postdocs)

University of Miami School of Medicine (Asst. Professor)

Transcell Technologies (Project Leader)

Middlesex County College (Chair, Biology Dept.)

Management Consultant

The Mintz Career Pathway

Cornell University (B.S.)

Entrepreneur

Prolong Pharmaceuticals

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Traditional Jobs for PhDs

• Tenure track positions at academic institutions, e.g., research universities, research institutes, medical schools, etc.

• Research positions at biotechnology or pharmaceutical companies

• Research/administrative positions at government agencies, e.g., NIH, FDA, USDA

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Recent Life Science Career Trends

• Roughly 10% of PhD-trained scientists successfully compete for tenure track jobs

• Since 2001 more than 300,000 pharmaceutical employees, mainly R&D and sales personnel, have lost their jobs

• Fiscal constraints has forced many state and local governments to downsize and implement hiring freezes

• Venture capital is hard to come by and ca. 60% of biotechnology companies have less than 6 months worth of cash on hand

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The Good News!!!!!• New job opportunities in regulatory affairs, clinical

research, project management and biomanufacturing are emerging at many life sciences companies

• The medical devices industry has been experiencing explosive growth for the past decade

• Medical communications which includes medical writing, editing, graphic design and science journalism continues to grow

• Changes in US patent laws are creating new jobs in intellectual property and technology transfer

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The Good News!!!!! (cont’d)

• The advent of bioinformatics and genomics coupled with electronic medical records has created jobs in healthcare information technology (HIT)

• The demand for consultants continues to remain steady• There has been increased demand for technical field

representatives at reagents and equipment manufacturing companies

• There has been an uptick in the demand for scientists at non-profits and non-government organizations (NGOs)

• Contracting and part-time opportunities continue to grow

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Regulatory Affairs• Prepare documents and interact with regulatory agencies

like FDA and EMA to get approval for new or existing drugs, biologics and devices

• Highly industry specific discipline with job available at companies that have drug candidates in clinical testing

• Will require additional training for academic scientists who want to transition to this career

• Resources and training– Regulatory Affairs Professional Society (RAPS)

• www.raps.org– Drug Information Association

• www.diahome.org

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Clinical Research• Participate in research conducted in human clinical trials• Highly industry specific discipline with jobs available at

companies and contract research organizations (CROs)• Persons with medical background (nursing, medical

technology, physicians, etc) are ideal• Will require additional training for academic scientists

who want to transition to this career• Resources and training

– Many community colleges and some four-year institutions offer certificate or Master’s degree programs

– Association of Clinical Research Professionals • www.acrpnet.org

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Project Management• Project managers insure that projects are completed on

time and within budget guidelines• Began in the software and IT fields but is becoming

increasingly prevalent in the life sciences• Detail oriented, technically-mind persons with outstanding

communication skills are ideal• Will require additional training for academic scientists

who want to transition to this career• Resources and training

– Many community colleges and some four-year institutions offer PM certificates

– Project Management Institute• www.pmi.org

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Biomanufacturing• Scaling up and commercial manufacturing of proteins• Persons with a background in upstream and downstream

processes and large scale protein purification experience are ideal

• Academic scientists with strong backgrounds in fermentation technology, bioengineering, etc can easily make the transition

• Some training in Current Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) will be helpful

• Resources and training– Many community colleges offer certificates or Associate

degrees and many four year institutions offer undergraduate and graduate biomanufacturing degrees

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Medical Devices• Includes, wheel chairs, catheters, implantable devices,

and diagnostics tests• Technically-minded persons or biomedical engineers

with a strong inclination to applied research and product development are ideal

• The advent of personalize medicine has increased the need for PhD scientists with strong backgrounds in bioinformatics, genomics and translational medicine

• Training– Most PhDs who meet the above requirements can easily

transition into this field– Internships or contract work at a device company would

be informative and helpful

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Medical Communications• Jobs include writing, editing, graphic design and

medical/science direction• Ideal for content area experts and persons who LOVE to

write and interact with people• Medical writing jobs have increased because publications,

conferences and monographs are how life sciences company peddle their products to physicians

• Training and Resources– Most PhDs who meet the above requirements can easily

transition into this field but will have to demonstrate ability to write

– The American Medical Writers Association provides training and certifications

• www.amwa.org

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Patent Law and Technology Transfer• Recent changes to US patent laws has increased the

demand for patent agents and patent attorney in the life sciences and information technology field– Patent agent vs. patent attorney– Additional training or law school is required

• Technology transfer jobs usually involve managing the patent estate and intellectual property of universities and colleges and looking for companies interested in licensing deals

• Internships at technology transfer offices are the best training for these opportunities

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Health Informatics• Intersection of healthcare and IT• Persons with expertise in genomics, bioinformatics or

software that understand how to work with and manipulate large data sets and databases are ideal

• Typically requires working with multi-disciplinary teams so good communication skills are a plus

• Training and resources– Many community colleges and four year institutions offer

certificate, undergraduate and graduate degrees– Office of Health Information Technology

(http://healthit.hhs.gov)– Public Health Informatics Network

(www.cdc.gov)

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Consulting

• Jobs available in management consulting, regulatory affairs and compliance, financial consulting and marketing/advertising

• Generally requires additional training in business or related disciplines

• Must have outstanding analytical and interpersonal communication skills

• Ability to speak multiple languages an asset • Must like to travel and not have many family obligations

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Parting Messages

• Nobody guaranteed you a job after you received your PhD or trained as a postdoctoral fellow

• Life is not easy nor fair

• Be diligent, work hard and don’t give up

• Follow your dreams

• Create you own career path; there is no right or wrong way!