Newswise — Stony Brook University, in collaboration with Brookhaven National Laboratory, The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, will be holding an all-day career symposium on Tuesday, March 19, in the Charles B. Wang Center. The Research Your Future Career Symposium is sponsored by the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB) and is open to graduate students and postdocs at the participating institutions.

This event is being run by Stony Brook University graduate students and postdocs, and includes a series of panel discussions by professionals in the areas of academia, biotech and finance, industry and government, and patent law. Stony Brook University President Samuel L. Stanley Jr., MD, will give the welcome address. The day’s schedule also includes lunch and an afternoon networking session with local businesses from the tri-state area, including Pall Life Sciences, forteBio, Regeneron, Hoffmann & Baron LLP, Advanced Microscopy Group (part of Life Technologies), The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, Merck Inc., Mirimus Inc., Molecular Medicine, New York Genome Center and North Shore LIJ.

P. Roy Vagelos, MD, retired Chairman and CEO of Merck Inc. and Chairman of the Board at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc., is the keynote speaker.

“We have filled our registration quota and are really excited about the success of this event,” said Nadine Dalrymple, postdoctoral associate in the Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, who is one of the event organizers. “This is the first time we are holding this career and networking symposium. The main organizers of the event submitted a proposal to ASBMB and won support to bring the event to Stony Brook. We then received a number of sponsorships, which allowed us to open this event up to more than 300 grads and postdocs. Our goal is to showcase the variety of career options available to those with a science PhD.”

The event organizers, all from Stony Brook University, include faculty advisor Peter J. Tonge, a professor in the Department of Chemistry; PhD students Peter Chahales and Krithika Venkataraman; and postdoctoral associate Nadine Dalrymple. The organizing committee, also from Stony Brook University, includes Lynn Allopenna, Assistant Dean in the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs; Alfreda S. James, Assistant Director in the Career Center; and PhD students Azeez Aranmolate, Mel Pilar Espaillat, Nikki Evensen, Ellie Ivanova, Mahalakshmi Ramadass and Perry Y. Woo.

Registration will be in the Main Lobby of the Wang Center, and businesses will have tables in the Skylight Lobby. Panel sessions will be held in the Wang Theater and Lecture Halls 1 and 2. Lunch will be in the Zodiac Lobby and Chapel, with networking opportunities in both the Main Lobby and Skylight Lobby. Vendor tables — featuring Biotix Inc., Enzo Life Sciences, Eppendorf, VWR and WorldWide Medical Products Inc. — will be displayed throughout the Wang Center.

Symposium panel discussions include:

Academia with Jorge L. Benach, PhD, Chair, Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Stony Brook University; David Bynum, PhD, Director, Center for Science and Mathematics Education, Stony Brook University; and Doreen Ware, PhD, Adjunct Associate Professor, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

Biotech and Finance with Prakhar Verma, PhD, Senior Analyst, Prescient Life Sciences; Jeffrey Saelens, PhD, Regional Center Director, Small Business Development Center, Stony Brook University; Mark Lesko, JD, Executive Director, Accelerate Long Island; and James Egan, PhD, Director of Business Development, IRX Therapeutics, Inc.

Industry and Government with Karim Berrada, PhD, Director, DNA Formulation, Applied DNA Sciences Inc.; Zygmund Roth, PhD, Vice President of Regulatory Affairs and Quality Assurance, IRX Therapeutics Inc.; John C. McKew, PhD, Chief, Therapeutics Development Branch, NIH Center for Translational Therapeutics; and Melpomeni Melek, PhD, Global Head of Hematology, Global Regulatory Affairs, Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals Inc.

Patent Law with Vladimir Drozdoff, PhD, JD, Patent Counsel, Office of Technology Transfer, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory; and James F. Harrington, MS, JD, Patent Attorney and Partner, Hoffmann & Baron LLP

About Keynote Speaker P. Roy VagelosDr. Vagelos served for 10 years as a young researcher at the National Institutes of Health’s National Heart Institute as a clinician and a biochemist. He then transitioned to academia to serve as chair of the Department of Biochemistry at Washington University. He then accepted a position as head of the Merck Research Laboratories, re-strategizing the company’s approach to drug discovery. His application of biochemistry to the discovery of novel therapeutics elevated him to CEO and chairman, and grew the company to one of the largest pharmaceuticals in the world Merck has became the standard for drug development and discovery throughout the industry. Retiring from his post at Merck in the mid 1990s, Dr. Vagelos went on to his current position as chairman of the board at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. His dedication to education is unparalleled, providing opportunities to countless students seeking higher education, as well as to advancements in the math and sciences.