Careers in Pharma and Biotech
with Dr. Michael Bradley
CNSPY had a seminar with Dr. Michael Bradley on careers in pharma and biotech on Oct 14th. Currently, Dr. Bradley works as a Principle Scientist of Biochemistry & Biophysics at Syros Pharmaceuticals. Before this, he did postdoctoral research at Yale and was also a CNSPY board member. In this seminar, Michael talked about pursuing non-academic careers in pharmaceutical and biotech
He first discussed job posting descriptions and the importance of tailoring a CV to fit the core topics. Michael suggested checking a job description, identifying specific skill sets that overlap with your expertise, and emphasizing them in your cover letter or CV. When listing publications, it is good to give a brief description about the work if it is highly related. A CV for a Scientist or Senior Scientist job should be two to four pages that give reasonable details. Second, Michael introduced the structure of an early-stage drug discovery team and the key phases of pre-clinical drug discovery. The drug discovery process usually consists of years of basic research, three years for lead discovery through target selection and one year of preclinical development. After getting the Investigational New Drug filing, there are usually more than six years of clinical trials and obtaining FDA approval. Lastly, he discussed the biotech and pharmaceuticals global ecosystem. He analyzed different biotech and pharma companies on their market forces, scales, and characteristics.
This seminar was very interactive, and Michael answered a lot of questions from the audience. An additional tip Michael gave is to reach out and talk with people working in your target companies to get an insight into the job. This will also give you the chance to get a referral to your dream position.
