10th Annual myCHOICE-BSD Alumni Career Forum

The myCHOICE-BSD Alumni Career Forum is an annual event sponsored by UChicagoGRAD, myCHOICE, and the University of Chicago Medical & Biological Sciences Alumni Association. The Career Forum provides the opportunity for BSD graduate students and postdoctoral scientists to engage with alumni from a broad range of career paths to share their perspectives and advice through panel discussions, breakout groups, and individual conversations.

Tuesday, October 24th, Noon – 1:30 pm (Central)
Virtual panel discussion and mentored breakout discussions
Registration is open now and will remain open through the virtual event.

Tuesday, October 24th, 4 – 6 pm (Central)
Virtual one-on-one informational interviews
Registration for ALL one-on-one informational interviews will open on Tuesday, October 10th and close on Friday, October 20th @ 11:59 pm. Register NOW to be invited to book slots with the alumni of your choice.

There’s no one better than a UChicago alum to provide advice about how to grow your career.

Panel Discussion: Keeping Your Feet Beneath You in the Changing Hiring Landscape
Tuesday, October 24th, Noon – 1:30 PM
Register for zoom link

Panelists

Jake Byrnes

Vice President @ Biobot Analytics

SM’05 Statistics, PhD’08 Ecology & Evolution

Dr. Byrnes is the vice president of data science at Biobot Analytics. They have also served as the senior director of data science and the director of computational genomics at Vertex Pharmaceuticals. Prior to that, they were the director of population genomics at Ancestry. Byrnes has a long history of population genetics, evolutionary genomics, and ancestry. Byrnes received their postdoctoral fellowship from the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics at the University of Oxford in 2008 and continued their studies at Stanford University School of Medicine from 2010 to 2011.

Gabrielle Edgerton

Founder & Principal Consultant @ Red Pen Scientific

PhD’10 Neurobiology

Dr. Edgerton received her PhD in Neurobiology from the University of Chicago in 2010. After a brief postdoctoral fellowship at Northwestern University, she began working with former colleagues as a scientific communications consultant, helping clients refine their written documents and presentations. Sensing a growing need, she has expanded her services to include help with strategic planning and execution of scientific communications of all kinds. In 2014 she founded her own company, Red Pen Scientific, and now works with clients all over the world from both academia and the private sector.

Daniil Gataulin

Senior Research Analyst @ Chardan

PhD’18 Molecular Genetics & Cell Biology

Dr. Gataulin joined Chardan in the summer of 2021 as a Vice President, Senior Research Associate covering Biotechnology and transitioned to a Senior Analyst role in the beginning of 2022. Prior to Chardan, Dr. Gataulin held a Senior Research Associate position at Raymond James, where he covered SMID biotech companies with the focus on neurology, hematology, and gene therapy. Dr. Gataulin received his PhD in Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology at the University of Chicago, where he conducted his thesis research in the laboratory of Dr. Doug Bishop. He also holds a Master’s degree in Biotechnology from Illinois Institute of Technology and BS in Cell Molecular Biology from Grand Valley State University.

Carole Henry

Senior Scientist, Infectious Disease Research @ Moderna

Postdoc’11 Immunology

Dr. Henry obtained her PhD in immunology in France and subsequently moved to the US for her postdoctoral work. At the University of Chicago, under the supervision of Dr Patrick Wilson, she studied B cells and antibody responses following vaccination and infection with a focus on influenza virus. In 2020 she joined the Infectious Disease Research department at Moderna where she leads research for various respiratory vaccine programs. She also leads the “B cell immunology team” which focuses on understanding immune responses induced by mRNA vaccines.

John Leonard

Director of Immunology @ New Limit

Postdoc’18 Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

Dr. Leonard is the director of immunology at NewLimit, a San Francisco Bay Area startup using epigenetic reprogramming to restore function to aged cells. Prior to this, Dr. Leonard was an associate director at 3T Biosciences where he led the discovery and early preclinical development of cell therapies and bispecific T cell engagers for the treatment of solid tumors. He completed his postdoctoral training in molecular and cellular immunology at the University of Chicago and he received his PhD in Biochemistry from UCSF.

One-on-One 30′ Informational Interviews
Tuesday, October 24th, 4 – 6 PM (30-minute intervals, by advance registration only)
Register to receive an invitation to sign up for meetings with specific individuals

Business & Consulting

Manuel Rocha, PhD
Analyst @ Driehaus Capital Management
SM’21, PhD’21 Developmental Biology

Dr. Rocha graduated from the Development, Regeneration and Stem Cell Biology program in 2021, where he worked with Dr. Vicky Prince studying neural crest development in zebrafish. He is currently a healthcare analyst at Driehaus Capital Management, where he invests in biopharma, medical device, life science tools, and diagnostic companies.

Yeva Shan, PhD
Associate @ McKinsey & Co.
Postdoc’21 Gastroenterology

Dr. Shan is a former postdoc in the Chang Lab at the University of Chicago Department of Medicine. She is currently working as a consultant at McKinsey & Co with a focus across business strategy, growth, innovation, and organization transformation topics and serving clients across different functions in the life sciences industry.

Communications

Mohana Ray, PhD
Associate Director, Scientific Communications @ HDMZ
Postdoc’19 Cancer Biology

Dr. Ray is associate director of scientific communications at HDMZ, a communications agency with expertise in life sciences and healthcare. She received her PhD in Analytical Chemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Ray went on to become a postdoctoral scholar at the University of Chicago where she led genomic studies for the Chicago Pancreatic Cancer Initiative. During her time at the University of Chicago, Ray was co-chair of the BSD Postdoctoral Association Seminar Committee. Ray is also a member of the American Association for Cancer Research.

Matthew Eckwahl, PhD
Principal Medical Writer @ AbbVie
Postdoc’19 Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics

Dr. Eckwahl is a principal medical writer at AbbVie. In this role, he is responsible for the writing and scientific accuracy of congress presentations and manuscripts in the field of rheumatology, coordinating with cross-functional internal teams (e.g., Clinical Development, Pharmacovigilence, Statistics, and Medical Affairs) and key opinion leaders outside the company to plan and develop publication projects. Previously, he was an associate program officer at the Walder Foundation, a private family foundation based in Skokie, Illinois. Eckwahl helped develop, manage, and evaluate programs in the Foundation’s Science Innovation portfolio. During the pandemic, his work centered on launching the Chicago Coronavirus Assessment Network (Chicago CAN), a multi-million dollar funding initiative for COVID-19 research. Eckwahl completed his postdoc at UChicago in 2019, where he examined how RNA modifications impact retrovirus replication.

Industry Research

Bryan Clay, PhD
Principal Scientist @ Pfizer- Cancer Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics
PhD’08 Immunology

Dr. Clay received his bachelor’s of science in Biological Sciences from DePaul University and his PhD in Immunology from the University of Chicago. During his tenure at the University of Chicago he researched costimulatory signals into T cells and dendritic cells that augment Th2 differentiation and Th2-mediated lung inflammation in the laboratory of Dr. Anne Sperling. He is currently a principal scientist at Pfizer in Cancer Vaccines and Immunotherapeutics. While at Pfizer, he has researched the effectiveness, mechanism and safety of novel therapeutic vaccines in various diseases including asthma and cancer. He has used his research experience in T cells and dendritic cells to investigate topics such as how adjuvants can influence the development of T follicular helper cells and how different cancer vaccine platforms, monoclonal antibodies and small molecule immunomodulators can augment the anti-tumor immune response. His current primary research focus is oncolytic viruses and how modulating the virus can improve the tumor microenvironment and T cell response resulting in tumor growth inhibition.

Ittai Eres, PhD

Senior Scientist @ Amgen
SM’17, PhD’20 Human Genetics

Dr. Eres is a computational geneticist with a deep appreciation for thorough scientific experimentation, computational analysis, and effective written and verbal communication. His work connects non-coding genetic variation to disease, integrating GWAS and a variety of epigenomic datasets to identify & characterize therapeutic targets. His PhD research focused on comparative evolutionary gene regulation, examining Hi-C and RNA-seq between humans and chimpanzees. In the years since, he has largely focused on characterization of putative disease genes and tissues to further understand the biology underlying cardio-metabolic disorders and diseases.

Devin Harrison, PhD
Scientist, Platform @ Tome Biosciences
PhD’21 Biophysical Sciences

As a scientist on the platform team at Tome Biosciences, Dr. Harrison works on developing technology to achieve programmable gene insertion across a variety of cellular and therapeutic contexts.

Sahar Mozaffari, PhD
Senior Data Scientist, Statistical Genetics @ Maze Therapeutics
PhD’18 Genetics

Dr. Mozaffari received her PhD from UChicago in 2018 in Carole Ober’s lab in the Department of Human Genetics. After graduate school she held roles in both the Computational Biology and Statistical Genetics teams at 23andMe. There she worked on eQTLs, GWAS, PRS, and genetic evaluations for targets. She is currently a senior data scientist at Maze Therapeutics on the Statistical Genetics team working on integrating functional and genetic data and contributing to the support and identification of therapeutic targets.

Linsin Smith, PhD
Scientist @ Epic Bio
SM’22, PhD’22 Genetics

Dr. Smith is a functional genomics scientist working at the intersection of gene therapy and epigenetics. She is specifically interested in using next generation sequencing technologies, principles of gene regulation, and cutting edge genomics approaches to develop products to treat human disease. She is passionate about science communication, non-coding gene regulation, iPSC models, and diversity and inclusion in STEM.

Law & Commercialization

Briana Mittleman, JD PhD
Incoming Associate @ Morrison Foerster
SM’20, PhD’20 Genetics

Dr. Mittleman graduated from Stanford Law School this past June. Prior to law school, she completed a PhD in Genetics and Genomics at the University of Chicago. During law school she worked at Morrison Foerster LLP in their Patent Prosecution and Strategy group and conducted independent research at the intersection of the law and life sciences. She is passionate about the legal tools that can promote safe, efficient, and ethical scientific innovation. Later this Fall, she will return to Morrison Foerster as an Associate.

Sean Sheridan, PhD, MBA
Vice President @ Charles River Associates
PhD’08 Genetics, MBA’13

Dr. Sheridan is a vice president in the Intellectual Property Practice at CRA. He has served as an expert witness in cases brought before federal and state courts, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, the International Trade Commission, and arbitration tribunals. He has developed numerous damages analyses related to patent infringement, breach of contract, and trade secret misappropriation, including analyses quantifying lost profits, reasonable royalties, and unjust enrichment. He has also provided financial consulting services for a variety of non-litigation purposes including transaction due diligence, license negotiations, and strategic decision‐making. Previously, Dr. Sheridan was as an assistant director at the technology transfer office at the University of Chicago where he was responsible for managing the intellectual property strategy for a broad range of technologies and was frequently required to assess the value of new discoveries and potential products.

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