An introduction to biotechnology

Being a graduate student or postdoctoral fellow — even if you're fortunate enough to work in a good lab and on a fun project — can be an isolating experience. You live and breathe academic science, and as a result you can develop a limited perspective on the world and on your career.

To broaden my horizons, I joined Yale's Biotechnology Student Interest Group, which aims to provide a big picture of the biotech industry, beyond just the science. The group's mission is to bring together graduate students and postdocs in the biomedical sciences, business, medicine, public health and law, for educational and career-related opportunities relating to the biotech and drug industries. This somewhat dry-sounding vision doesn't quite capture the exciting and dynamic character of the organization. It has about 750 members, including postdocs, graduate students, professional students in law and business as well as many members of the small but dynamic biotechnology community centred around New Haven, Connecticut.

Its speaker series helps to broaden members' perspective of the life-sciences industry by including academics engaged in biotech, patent attorneys, industry chief executives, venture capitalists and investment bankers. For example, at the annual ‘biotechnology reception’ last October, Steven Holtzman, chief executive of drug-discovery firm Infinity Pharmaceuticals, dropped his self-described “standard PowerPoint presentation”. Instead, he drew on his Rhodes scholar training in philosophy, and his experience as a former member of the National Bioethics Advisory Commission, to present an analysis of the ethical and philosophical implications of stem-cell and cloning technologies.

But the organization does more than listen to speakers. It also provides free consulting services to local biotech companies. And it has an equity-analysis group that evaluates firms for investment from financial, legal and scientific perspectives.

Being involved with the organization has not only widened my scientific perspective — it has helped me to make a career change. Once I have finished my postdoc this summer, I plan to enrol as an MBA student at Yale, and train to manage a biotech company.