Exploring Careers in STEM 2025
Are you interested in a career outside academia, but unsure about which organization would be the best fit for you? Perhaps you love science, but also dream of hanging up your lab coat for good! Our panels of advanced-degree professionals will help you consider these questions and more! Collectively, our panelists are contributing broad expertise (chemical engineering, chemistry, molecular and cellular biology, neuroscience, and more) across a wide array of organizations (biotech, consulting, intellectual property law, medical writing, pharma). Morning panelists will discuss how their roles support science from beyond the bench. Afternoon panelists will talk about their research roles and the skills that helped them get there. Each session will include a 1-hour moderated panel, followed by optional opportunities for smaller discussions with panelists. Attend one session or attend it all. Register here to receive the Zoom link on the morning of the event.
This event is co-sponsored by OPD, the Biotechnology Training Program (BTP) and the Chemistry Biology Interface (CBI) Program and we thank planning committee members for creating a great program!
Please register here "Exploring Careers in STEM 2025".
Away from the Bench |
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Dr. Sualyneth Galarza, PhD is the Global Associate Medical Director of Hematology, Nephrology, and Transplant at AstraZeneca Rare Disease. She leads global medical strategy through collaboration with local, clinical and commercial teams, scientific experts, and patient communities, focused on advancing innovation in complex diseases. She earned her PhD in Chemical Engineering from UMass Amherst 2019, where her research centered on oncology and biomimetic models, exploring how extracellular matrix composition influences cancer progression. |
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Ajay Kumar, PhD Bio coming soon |
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Michael Lu-Diaz, PhD is a Technology Specialist at Wolf Greenfield, an intellectual property law firm. He received his PhD in Chemistry at UMass Amherst, where he studied the role of dopants in organic semiconductors. During his PhD, he worked as a summer intern at Wolf Greenfield, where he joined full-time after graduation. As a patent practitioner, he reviews invention disclosures, drafts patent applications, responds to communications from the US Patent Office, assesses the patentability of technology, and determines the risk of patent infringement. He also assists patent attorneys with legal research. |
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Andrea Silva-Gotay, PhD is a Medical Writer and Consultant at Whitsell Innovations, Inc. (WI), a fully-remote, woman-owned company specialized in medical writing, quality control review, and electronic regulatory submissions. She earned her PhD in Neuroscience and Behavior at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where she studied the neurobiological effects of adolescent alcohol drinking on the developing brain. She then joined Kineta, Inc. (formerly Yumanity Therapeutics) as a Scientist in drug discovery and development, testing tool compounds for the treatment for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal lobar dementia. During her time at a biopharmaceutical company, Andrea became interested in how medical writing helps support the drug development process (from preclinical research, to first-in-human use, to market), which is when she transitioned into medical writing via the WI internship. Now, as a full time medical writer at WI, Andrea helps support global clients in the pharmaceutical, biotech, and medical device industries with regulatory writing, clinical and safety documentation, and publications. |
At the Bench |
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Laura Castellanos García, PhD Bio coming soon |
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Ritam Das, PhD Bio coming soon |
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Jill Graham, PhD Bio coming soon |