1. 01/29/15 1
Emerging Careers in the Life
Sciences
Clifford S. Mintz, PhD
www.biojobblog.com

2. 01/29/15 2
University of Wisconsin (PhD)
OHSU & Columbia University (Postdocs)
University of Miami School of Medicine (Asst. Professor)
Transcell Technologies (Project Leader)
Middlesex County College (Chair, Biology Dept.)
Management Consultant
The Mintz Career Pathway
Cornell University (B.S.)
Entrepreneur
Prolong Pharmaceuticals

3. 01/29/15 3
Traditional Jobs for PhDs
• Tenure track positions at academic institutions, e.g.,
research universities, research institutes, medical schools,
etc.
• Research positions at biotechnology or pharmaceutical
companies
• Research/administrative positions at government agencies,
e.g., NIH, FDA, USDA

4. 01/29/15 4
Recent Life Science Career Trends
• Roughly 10% of PhD-trained scientists successfully
compete for tenure track jobs
• Since 2001 more than 300,000 pharmaceutical employees,
mainly R&D and sales personnel, have lost their jobs
• Fiscal constraints has forced many state and local
governments to downsize and implement hiring freezes
• Venture capital is hard to come by and ca. 60% of
biotechnology companies have less than 6 months worth of
cash on hand

5. 01/29/15 5
The Good News!!!!!
• New job opportunities in regulatory affairs, clinical
research, project management and biomanufacturing are
emerging at many life sciences companies
• The medical devices industry has been experiencing
explosive growth for the past decade
• Medical communications which includes medical
writing, editing, graphic design and science journalism
continues to grow
• Changes in US patent laws are creating new jobs in
intellectual property and technology transfer

6. 01/29/15 6
The Good News!!!!! (cont’d)
• The advent of bioinformatics and genomics coupled
with electronic medical records has created jobs in
healthcare information technology (HIT)
• The demand for consultants continues to remain steady
• There has been increased demand for technical field
representatives at reagents and equipment
manufacturing companies
• There has been an uptick in the demand for scientists at
non-profits and non-government organizations (NGOs)
• Contracting and part-time opportunities continue to
grow

7. 01/29/15 7
Regulatory Affairs
• Prepare documents and interact with regulatory agencies
like FDA and EMA to get approval for new or existing
drugs, biologics and devices
• Highly industry specific discipline with job available at
companies that have drug candidates in clinical testing
• Will require additional training for academic scientists
who want to transition to this career
• Resources and training
– Regulatory Affairs Professional Society (RAPS)
• www.raps.org
– Drug Information Association
• www.diahome.org

8. 01/29/15 8
Clinical Research
• Participate in research conducted in human clinical trials
• Highly industry specific discipline with jobs available at
companies and contract research organizations (CROs)
• Persons with medical background (nursing, medical
technology, physicians, etc) are ideal
• Will require additional training for academic scientists
who want to transition to this career
• Resources and training
– Many community colleges and some four-year institutions
offer certificate or Master’s degree programs
– Association of Clinical Research Professionals
• www.acrpnet.org

9. 01/29/15 9
Project Management
• Project managers insure that projects are completed on
time and within budget guidelines
• Began in the software and IT fields but is becoming
increasingly prevalent in the life sciences
• Detail oriented, technically-mind persons with
outstanding communication skills are ideal
• Will require additional training for academic scientists
who want to transition to this career
• Resources and training
– Many community colleges and some four-year institutions
offer PM certificates
– Project Management Institute
• www.pmi.org

10. 01/29/15 10
Biomanufacturing
• Scaling up and commercial manufacturing of proteins
• Persons with a background in upstream and downstream
processes and large scale protein purification experience
are ideal
• Academic scientists with strong backgrounds in
fermentation technology, bioengineering, etc can easily
make the transition
• Some training in Current Good Manufacturing Practices
(GMP) will be helpful
• Resources and training
– Many community colleges offer certificates or Associate
degrees and many four year institutions offer
undergraduate and graduate biomanufacturing degrees

11. 01/29/15 11
Medical Devices
• Includes, wheel chairs, catheters, implantable devices,
and diagnostics tests
• Technically-minded persons or biomedical engineers
with a strong inclination to applied research and product
development are ideal
• The advent of personalize medicine has increased the
need for PhD scientists with strong backgrounds in
bioinformatics, genomics and translational medicine
• Training
– Most PhDs who meet the above requirements can easily
transition into this field
– Internships or contract work at a device company would
be informative and helpful

12. 01/29/15 12
Medical Communications
• Jobs include writing, editing, graphic design and
medical/science direction
• Ideal for content area experts and persons who LOVE to
write and interact with people
• Medical writing jobs have increased because
publications, conferences and monographs are how life
sciences company peddle their products to physicians
• Training and Resources
– Most PhDs who meet the above requirements can easily
transition into this field but will have to demonstrate
ability to write
– The American Medical Writers Association provides
training and certifications
• www.amwa.org

13. 01/29/15 13
Patent Law and Technology Transfer
• Recent changes to US patent laws has increased the
demand for patent agents and patent attorney in the life
sciences and information technology field
– Patent agent vs. patent attorney
– Additional training or law school is required
• Technology transfer jobs usually involve managing the
patent estate and intellectual property of universities and
colleges and looking for companies interested in
licensing deals
• Internships at technology transfer offices are the best
training for these opportunities

14. 01/29/15 14
Health Informatics
• Intersection of healthcare and IT
• Persons with expertise in genomics, bioinformatics or
software that understand how to work with and
manipulate large data sets and databases are ideal
• Typically requires working with multi-disciplinary teams
so good communication skills are a plus
• Training and resources
– Many community colleges and four year institutions offer
certificate, undergraduate and graduate degrees
– Office of Health Information Technology
(http://healthit.hhs.gov)
– Public Health Informatics Network
(www.cdc.gov)

15. 01/29/15 15
Consulting
• Jobs available in management consulting, regulatory
affairs and compliance, financial consulting and
marketing/advertising
• Generally requires additional training in business or
related disciplines
• Must have outstanding analytical and interpersonal
communication skills
• Ability to speak multiple languages an asset
• Must like to travel and not have many family
obligations

16. 01/29/15 16
Parting Messages
• Nobody guaranteed you a job after you received your
PhD or trained as a postdoctoral fellow
• Life is not easy nor fair
• Be diligent, work hard and don’t give up
• Follow your dreams
• Create you own career path; there is no right or wrong
way!