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What is the URBEST Program and Why Should I Join?

What is the URBEST Program and Why Should I Join?

News Article By Tracey Baas, URBEST Executive Director

When people ask me to tell them a little bit about the URBEST program, it’s difficult to know where to start. The first attempt is breaking down the acronym: University of Rochester’s Broadening Experiences in Scientific Training. To tell you the truth, I don’t think very many people remember what the acronym stands for, but they do manage to take away the golden nugget. With the help of the National Institute of Health, the program exists to try to train the BEST scientists possible.

Dr. Lawrence Tabak Takes a Shot with UR Biomedical Trainees

Dr. Lawrence Tabak Takes a Shot with UR Biomedical Trainees

News Article By Claire McCarthy, PhD candidate, and Julianne Feola, PhD candidate

As part of his visit to the University of Rochester on April 15th, 2016, Dr. Lawrence Tabak’s only request was that he would get to meet with students and post-docs to have a discussion about the ethical issues surrounding biomedical research. As the Deputy Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), he particularly enjoys hearing the perspective of trainees in the field. He was granted his wish with an hour-long Q&A session prior to his talk, “The Reproducibility of Biomedical Research.”  His Q&A session and talk were both well attended by scientists at all stages. According to Dr. Tabak, current issues of biomedical research have been garnering widespread interest among the scientific community as well as the general population.

Research bench to clinical bench: Two sides of the same coin

Research bench to clinical bench: Two sides of the same coin

Career Story Blog Post By Lauren Brooks, PhD, Medical Technologist (ASCP) Trainee Rochester General Hospital/University of Rochester Medical Center

So you don’t know what you want to be when you grow up? You love bench science but the life of a PI doesn’t appeal? Look to the other side of the bench science world: Clinical Laboratory Science. 

Science Policy and the Road Ahead

Science Policy and the Road Ahead

Career Story Blog Post By Sesquile Ramon, PhD, Health Policy Specialist and AAAS Fellow

So you got a Ph.D., now what? Degree in hand, you now have the option to pursue a diverse number of career possibilities, including science policy. You do not necessarily need another academic degree, but you do need to diversify the skills section on your CV and learn how to leverage and translate your graduate school skills into marketable ones.

 

Building a Career in Science Policy

Building a Career in Science Policy

Career Story Blog Post By Brad Smith, PhD, Director of Policy at FasterCures, a center of the Milken Institute1

In the 15 years since I earned my PhD, I’ve had experiences, met people, and made contributions that I could never have imagined had I stayed at the lab bench. As I was finishing up my graduate work (studying DNA repair in E. coli and B. subtilis), I made the decision to embark on a career in science policy. There are many ways to engage in the public policy process as a scientist. My work has orbited around the intersecting axes of science policy, health policy, and national security policy. I’ve fielded phone calls about B. anthracis at the height of Amerithrax in October 2001 (just two months after I defended my thesis!), worked with Congress to pass needed legislation, coached former prime ministers and other leaders to mimic an international crisis as the BBC’s cameras were rolling, analyzed innovative R&D policies while in a think tank and then got the opportunity to implement one such policy in the federal government.

1Adapted from: Smith, B., “Careers at the Interface of Biology and Public Policy,” ASBMB Today, Sep. 2006.

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