By Joshua Stuckey
Day two of the What Can You Be with a PhD (WCUB) symposium was no less packed with career development resources than the first. Transitioning out of academia can be daunting: luckily, you don’t have to do it alone. This message was central to day two. Most of the featured speakers discussed how the connections they made along their academic journeys contributed to their success. The panelists of each event came from diverse occupational backgrounds, from developers at Google to self-made CEOs and venture capitalists. Additionally, the keynote lecture highlighted the work of WCUB’s late founder, Dr. Joel Oppenheim. This iJOBS blog post is the conclusion to the two-part series covering WCUB 2025.
From Bioinformatics to AI: Careers in Data Science
Keelin O’Neil, a Neuroscience PhD candidate at NYU, led a discussion with panelists on the ins and outs of acquiring a job in bioinformatics, and how careers in this field have been impacted by artificial intelligence (AI). Despite similar roles as data scientists, all three panelists have different stakeholders, projects, and objectives. One thing common to all was that AI has become a primary component of their work.
Dr. Issac Galatzer-Levy, Senior Staff Research Scientist with Google DeepMind, works directly with AI to measure its cognitive capabilities. Issac entered industry after a grant program officer recommended him for the position. He expressed the importance maintaining diverse relationships early in one’s career, as opportunities can arise from unforeseen places. He also discussed how companies like Google have shifted to favor scientists who have advanced knowledge of AI over wet lab scientists with basic machine learning skills.
Dr. Zachary Kurtz, Senior Protein Engineer at Gingko Bioworks, got his start at a small startup business after his PhD. He compared how his time working at a smaller business differed to his current position. At Gingko Bioworks, AI has become instrumental in consolidating company-wide databases. Chatbots are being used to query cross platform datasets, aid coding, and help develop protocols.
Lastly, Dr. Zhanna Hakhverdyan, Bioinformatics Data Scientist at Bio-Rad, described how AI has improved her productivity, but emphasized the importance of strengthening coding knowledge to recognize AI hallucinations. Notably, Zhanna talked about the difficulties of getting her first job interview, which took several months of applying to receive. Despite this hardship, she increased her visibility through a data science fellowship program and by strengthening her interviewing skills
There is no doubt that AI has significantly impacted the job market; however, the panelists encouraged future applicants to focus less on the fear of job replacement and more on how AI can be leveraged to enhance performance and productivity.
While the data science panel focused on the technical skills shaping today’s job market, the keynote lecture invited attendees to step back and reflect on the deeper question of how personal values and purpose guide long-term career decisions.
Keynote Lecture: Cultivating your Purpose
Dr. Marcus Lambert is the Associate Vice President for Research at SUNY Downstate Medical Center. Before his keynote lecture, he was presented with the Joel Oppenheim award for his dedication to fostering the next generation of scientists. His lecture echoed these sentiments, as his talk touched on how to get the most out of a PhD education.
“A PhD is not just training in science – it’s training in self-discovery”- Dr. Marcus Lambert
During Dr. Lambert’s talk, he highlighted the following points:
1. Reflect on lived experiences. Understanding your story and what drives you is key to finding your values. These values are often what makes finding the next step in your career easier. When your values align with a company, lab, or institution, the decision to join or chase that goal will often feel right. Dr. Lambert encouraged attendees to discover their passions and in turn their values.
2. Build relationships that help you grow. A PhD is not accomplished alone. Dr. Lambert emphasized the importance of developing a mentorship network that is not solely dependent on a thesis advisor. Dr. Lambert’s research as the Associate Vice President of Research at SUNY revealed that students with more diverse mentorship networks tend to have stronger grant outcomes and a greater number of opportunities. Try to have at least one each of the following:
- Sponsors: individuals who advocate for you in your absence, increasing visibility and opening doors to new opportunities
- Research mentors: advisors who provide scientific guidance and help strengthen publications, grant applications, and research rigor
- Coaches: mentors who advise you and push you toward personal growth in and out of the context of work, helping to increase confidence
- Identity mentors: people with similar lived experiences (e.g. race or gender) who offer support in navigating identity-based challenges
- Peer mentors: Individuals with similar experiences who offer reciprocal support in navigating academic challenges
3. Purpose is the compass ,not the weather, in an evolving career. Pursuing a PhD and navigating a career more broadly can be challenging, and moments of self-doubt are inevitable. However, if you have made the effort to establish your purpose and values, it will guide you through the toughest storms.
Entrepreneurs: From Science to Startup
Building on this emphasis on purpose and self-reflection, the entrepreneurship panel illustrated how clarity in values can translate into bold career moves beyond academia.
Dr. Alyssa Fronk moderated a discussion with an all-female panel of successful scientific entrepreneurs. Panelists discussed the challenges of leaving academia, finding mentors, and securing early-stage funding.
Panelists emphasized that many of the skills developed during PhD training—such as problem-solving, experimental design, data-driven decision-making, and resilience in the face of uncertainty—translate directly to entrepreneurial settings. However, they noted that success outside academia often requires a mindset shift: moving from perfectionism to iteration, from individual expertise to team-based execution, and from narrowly defined research questions to broader, impact-driven goals.
On leaving academia, Dr. Sandra Pérez Baos, Senior Associate at 2048 Ventures, talked about the importance of preparing as early as possible, as luck favors the well prepared. This was echoed by Dr. Azade Hosseini, Venture Associate with Innovation Venture Fund, who highlighted the utility of participating in entrepreneurial skill transfer programs like Nucleate and NSF-I-Corp.
Unanimously, the panelists stressed the importance of networking. To transition out of academia, it is necessary to make connections outside of academia. Dr. Hourinaz Behesti, CEO of Hebbian Bio, discussed the importance of learning how to communicate with people of different audiences; the language of business differs fundamentally from the language of science. Additionally, networking represents opportunities to acquire mentorship. Reaching out to professionals on platforms such as LinkedIn can be highly effective, as many individuals are willing to offer guidance or engage in informational conversations. One effective networking strategy is to initiate non-transactional conversations (for example, asking about someone’s experience working in a particular role or organization). This offers individuals the opportunity to talk about themselves without feeling that something is expected in return, which most people enjoy.
Day two of WCUB 2025 offered invaluable insights into the spectrum of careers that are attainable with a PhD and inspiring words from success stories, many of which had attended WCUB during their PhD. One of the most recurrent themes throughout the event was the importance of developing a strong professional network. In almost every session one or more of the panelists discussed the importance of developing and sustaining the connections made along the PhD journey. One of these connections might just be your future job offer!
This article was edited by Junior Editor E. Beyza Guven and Senior Editor Joycelyn Radeny.