In the transition interview series, we are talking with Dr. Subhalaxmi Nambi (SN) today, who is a Business Development Associate at UMass Medical School. It is a very interesting transition story, where she transitioned from a Postdoctoral position to Business Development. In her conversation with Abirami Santhanam (AS), she gives some important insights to young scientists looking for transitioning newer roles in STEM careers.
AS : Tell us about yourself?
SN: I am an easy-going person with a strong aptitude for scientific research and a keen eye for translating research into applications. As early as my first year into the graduate program, I established myself into an effective problem-solving researcher with a knack to discover novel scientific pathways. My principal investigator and other colleagues always encouraged me and believed that I had the potential to start my own lab.
An alternate career was not even in sight. Though, from the very beginning, I knew I wanted to do be in a field where I am not only exposed to a different kind of science but also witness its translation. Now being part of UMass Medical School’s Office of Innovation & Business Development, I finally feel truly satisfied.
AS: What is you new job profile in University of Massachusetts?
SN: The mission of the Office of Innovation & Business Development is to convert the wealth of scientific discoveries made by our researchers at University of Massachusetts Medical School into meaningful human therapies. Our office accomplishes this through many methods (e.g. licensing technology to pharmaceutical companies, forming start-up companies, etc.) We act as a liaison between the research team and entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and industries and help in commercializing techniques that have potential industry needs. Detailed information can be found in http://umassmed.edu/ibd-otm/.
AS: Describe your academic journey and mentionable moments?
SN: After my undergrad, I was contemplating of either doing an MBA or Masters in Marine Biotechnology. As diverse as they may sound, I realized later that I just couldn’t connect the dots then. After my Masters, I got the opportunity to perform research in Indian Institute of Science under the guidance of Dr. Sandhya Visweswariah, I didn’t blink an eye. It was truly an enriching experience to learn on what it takes to be a good scientist. My hard work and with great guidance, I was able to publish many first author publications in prestigious journals, but as they say, I still hadn’t connected the dots.
AS: Did you set any goals during your early scientific career?
SN: I am a very goal oriented person and I like to set some internal goals. The benefit of being a graduate student is that there are no deadlines, but it can be more of a bane and then a boon.
In fact, I was always pragmatic about a project and tried to steer it in the directions where it would fetch me results.
AS: How did you develop your network during the research career? How important was it to reach your current position?
SN: I always believed in the mantra of connecting with people than networking for motive. As I mentioned earlier, I am a very easy-going person and I like to make friends, so it came naturally to me. When a dear colleague was generally chatting with me, we realized we have a common interest in a particular idea that could be developed as a product. We made a perfect team and even worked towards starting a company. We did a lot of leg work and I had the opportunity to communicate with a lot of people from the Boston ecosystem. There was this one time I happened to send an email to a scientist who was a working in an area similar to our startup idea and during a conference I just took the time to meet her in Paris. She was impressed with what we were doing and even offered me a position. It is another thing I didn’t take it for personal reasons, but just want to highlight the power of networking.
AS: Your background is in Mycobacterium tuberculosis research and now you are an Associate for Business development at UMass. How did this diverse transition happen?
SN: My inherent intuition for business has driven me to this current position. It did not happen in a day. As I told earlier it is what I was looking for a long time. This was an internal position and was open for people looking for a transition. Even though it’s an internal position, they had almost 50 candidates who applied for the position. There were several rounds of interview. There was this particular round in which I was given an assignment about a confidential finding and I was asked (i) how will I tweet about it? (ii) if I am a business partner, how will I proceed further? (iii) If I have to file a patent how will my IP look like? (iv) the weakness of the technology. I made sure I did my ground work and during the interviews, my past experiences in with the startup gave me an edge over other candidates.
AS: How did you manage the stress associated with job search? Being with a family needs some career compromises, how did you handle it?
SN: It was definitely a stressful period during the transition. Luckily my husband and I both are appreciative of each other’s careers. He is truly a great pillar of strength to me and together we try to balance our work commitment and at the same time, we are cognizant of the fact that we have a beautiful child and we make sure that we find time to nurture values that we both have inculcated during our lifetime.
AS: Can you elaborate the role of the Career Support Group (CSG) for STEM PhDs in your career?
SN: I am thankful to many people in CSG as I got many fruitful suggestions. I got my resume modified by people from CSG and many constructive criticisms on what works and what doesn’t. Being an open career support forum, every person in CSG has a different view and perspective. It is up to us to choose what we want and how to go for it. Never be discouraged by any comments. With the Mentor – Mentee program I got a lot of suggestions regarding the pros and cons of transition which was really helpful.
AS: What is your advice and suggestions for CSGians who are looking for a career transition?
SN: Follow your heart and follow your dream, no matter how hard it is to reach. Reach out, struggle and ultimately do what you like. Do not think about visa situations as a hindrance as things will fall in place when we move towards the goal with a perseverance. Go for your passion rather than compromising it for another better thing as we can achieve a lot when we are passionate about something.
AS: Thanks Subbu for this clear, detailed interview and your time. I can see your enthusiasm and passion for Business development as well the optimism towards approaching your goals. I hope this interview opens up the doors to a passionate career pursuit in many of us.
About the author: Abirami is a research fellow with a focus on ocular research and research administration. She is interested in photography and freelancing.
This work by ClubSciWri is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
