iJOBS Event Summary

This piece was written after attending an iJOBS workshop entitled: An Introduction to Good Laboratory Practices presented by Melissa Elliott from Envigo on May 8th, 2017 in Piscataway, NJ. Good laboratory practices (GLPs) are a series of regulations which standardize the quality of research used in clinical trials, or food development. Before human consumption, or treatment, there are several stages of research: exploratory, preclinical development, clinical trial, and manufacturing. The latter three stages are all federally regulated.

This past February, nearly fifty graduate students and post-docs braved the winter weather and attended a four day long workshop called SciPhD to learn how to frame skills gained in academia to be marketable towards careers in industry.

On November 29, the New Brunswick site of Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) hosted students from Rutgers University, Johns Hopkins University, and the University of Maryland. BMS is a global bio-pharmaceutical company whose drug portfolio includes oncology, immunoscience, cardiovascular, genetic diseases, and fibrotic diseases.

 By: Eileen Oni

By: Itzamarie Chevere-Torres

“Good writing is good writing; it doesn’t matter if it is an email”  Danielle Heuer, co-founder of Every Voice Educates and Communication Consultant and Coach for WD Communications, said as she started the presentation on Science Business Writing Workshop.

Last month, iJOBS held a case study in Pharma Market Research. This case study was coordinated by Return on Focus, a company that uses evidence-based marketing to provide new marketing strategies for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. Return on Focus was started in 2006 by Dan Reinhardt, who received his BS and MBA in Marketing. Evidence-based marketing is a type of marketing that uses research, statistics, and trends to integrate evidence with strategic expertise.

The American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS) held an informational meeting at Rutgers University on October 10^th. This meeting allowed students and postdocs to learn about career opportunities in industry and network with AAPS members working in the area.

Last month, iJOBS hosted employees from Aerotek and Staff Icons for the Job Search Using Staffing Agencies Panel. Cori Murray, Amanda Timpano, and Nicole Tenebruso represented Aerotek, the largest privately held staffing agency, while Michael Buckley represented Staff Icons, a small firm in Northern New Jersey. Each contributed a unique perspective on the benefits of working with a staffing agency.

On October 6^th, the Rutgers Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences invited Dr. Eric Prager, Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Neuroscience Research, to speak about the problem of scientific reproducibility, how to avoid common pitfalls in conducting research, and best practices for publishing a scientific paper. (Interested in science publishing as a career and/or how Dr. Prager became an editor at Wiley?

The iJOBS Networking Event for Students, Postdocs and Alumni was held on September 15^th in the Research Towers on the Rutgers Piscataway campus. This casual event, held after hours, provided a fun (and food!) filled informal, stress-free environment where several Rutgers alumni shared their job hunting and career experiences with current students. Attendees had the opportunity to directly interact with alumni to gain insight into what they have been up to since graduation.