Accomplished alumnae return to share career advice with graduate students
On September 18, students in the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at Baylor College of Medicine gathered for the second annual installment of the Graduate Student Career Series. This year’s event, titled “Carve Your Path: Unexpected Opportunities in Tech,” featured panelists Lucy Liu, Ph.D. ‘17 and Tatiana Fofanova, Ph.D. ‘18, who shared their wisdom from working in the venture capital industry and helping found startup companies. Gabriella Perez, Ph.D. candidate, served as moderator.
Dr. Liu, a principal at Longwood Fund, shared insights from studying neuroscience with Hugo Bellen, D.V.M., Ph.D., at Baylor to securing a postdoctoral at the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation to creating and supporting portfolio companies at Longwood Fund.
“While my Ph.D. provided unparallel training as a scientist, I’ve found that some of my most valuable career advice and opportunities came from networking and learning from colleagues from other disciplines,” Dr. Liu said.
“Breakthrough discoveries generally happen at the intersection of different fields—this is also applicable for developing oneself as a multi-faceted individual who can strategically apply their knowledge across fields like data science and business strategy,” she said.
Dr. Fofanova, co-founder and CEO of Koda Health, shared similar advice about the value of being curious, flexible and adaptable when approaching one’s career. Her experiences included studying molecular medicine at Baylor, advocating for vulnerable communities in Houston and conducting clinical research in a population with incurable diseases at Texas Children’s Hospital.
“I wish someone had told me to embrace uncertainty and be open to unexpected opportunities,” Dr. Fofanova said. “In grad school, I was mostly made aware of very specific career paths that had clear promotion tracks, like being an academic, consultant, staff scientist or a medical science liaison.”
“I didn’t realize the sheer breadth of possible ways to contribute and grow. A career path isn’t always linear, and sometimes the most rewarding experiences come from taking risks and exploring new areas,” she said.
These experiences helped Dr. Fofanova to create Koda, a personalized advance care planning platform for organizations in the healthcare sector, which has seen tremendous growth since its founding in Spring 2020.
“We are thrilled to have alumnae such as Drs. Liu and Fofanova speak to our students about the range of potential paths available to them,” said Senior Vice President, Dean of Research and Dean of the Graduate School Carolyn Smith, Ph.D., who also attended the event.
“We aim to empower our trainees to excel in a diverse array of careers, just as we strive to have a student body with diverse perspectives, experiences and backgrounds,” she said.
To serve as a speaker for future alumni and student events, please reach out to us at alumni@bcm.edu.
