Tag: Alumni

Innovation is our bottom-line

By Christine Nieves @nieveschristine cnieves@rwjf.org

Hey guys!  Just a quick shout-out to the Penn Career Services. They rock! And in case you are wondering why, you should go to as many panel discussions as you can, get help with your resume and interview skills, and walk into their library. I did that since I was a freshman at Penn, and it has paid off exponentially.

I wanted to share a post I recently wrote for our blog: Pioneering Ideas.  But let me take a step back: before you check it out, you should know that at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation we work to improve the health and health care of all Americans. And yes, there are such organizations out there where the bottom line is having a social impact (i.e. Philanthropy).

Within RWJF I have the fortune of working for the Pioneer Team. At Pioneer we support projects that use original, unconventional and/or cross-sectoral approaches to create transformative change on large and pressing challenges that will be critical to the future of health and health care.  Our vision is getting young people (like you!) to come up with new, resourceful ways to solve big, messy problems. And well, to facilitate that, we have a process whereby you can apply for funding!

So now, back to the post. You can find it here:  Innovation and Youth: Tapping our Young Resources    Oh, and don’t forget to follow me on twitter @NievesChristine where I am constantly talking about what I do/read/think for a living.

Day in the Life: Biomedical Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Penn

To follow up our Biomedical Career Fair held on October 3rd, we welcomed Dr. Caleph Wilson to @PennCareerDay on Twitter for two days, Tuesday, October 9th and Wednesday, October 10th.  Dr. Wilson, also known as @HeyDrWilson, talked about his work as a Biomedical Postdoctoral Research Fellow here at Penn.  It was a great opportunity to learn about this path, whether you’re a current PhD candidate, a postdoc or an undergrad interested in biomedical research.   To learn more about Dr. Wilson, read his bio below, and check out his tweets on our Storify page.

Dr.CalephWilson Dr. Caleph B. Wilson is a postdoctoral scholar in the Abramson Cancer Research Institute and the Department of Microbiology of the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.  Dr. Wilson investigates immunological therapies to develop treatments for cancer and HIV infections.  Specifically, his work seeks to genetically modify patient T cells, and transform the T cells to more effectively kill HIV infected cells and malignant tumors.

Before coming to Penn, Dr. Wilson earned his doctorate in Pathobiology at the University Park Campus of the Pennsylvania State University and his undergraduate degree in Biology from Alcorn State University.  Through engaging in investigative research as an undergraduate, graduate student and postdoc, Dr. Wilson has fully immersed himself in the biological sciences, fulfilling his lifelong goal to investigate and eliminate human diseases.  In addition to his laboratory studies, Dr. Wilson is also a co-chair of the Biomedical Postdoctoral Council.  As co-chair he seeks to represent University of Pennsylvania postdocs on campus, in the local community and nationally.

Receiving great mentoring has been a major cornerstone of Dr. Wilson’s progression from a small southern town to producing scholarly work at the University of Pennsylvania.  As a result, he has prioritized mentoring undergraduates, graduate students and fellow postdocs.  He envisions that the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields will lead all future industries in the U.S. and globally.  This interest in the development of the future of STEM drew Dr. Wilson to follow policy developments in the scientific world. He took this interest one step further and last year served as a Public Policy Fellow for the American Association of Immunologists.

Overall, Dr. Wilson hopes to impact society by developing successful therapies to eradicate cancers and HIV infections.  Further, he seeks to cultivate and support talented students into STEM fields and assist them in becoming lifelong scientists.

Guest Perspective: Pause Before you Jump (into your post graduate plans) – Advice for Seniors

By Song-I  Yang (C’10)

With OCR in full swing and students scurrying around in business suits all over campus, you can’t help but feel a wash of anxiety as you face the unknown future.  Maybe you don’t really know what to do with your life and, the question ‘Where do you see yourself in five years?’ draws blanks, and the last thing you want to do is write up halfhearted cover letters to companies you feel like you should apply for just because half the world seems to be doing the same. Sound familiar?

I was in your position not too long ago.  Three years ago, to be exact.

Continue reading “Guest Perspective: Pause Before you Jump (into your post graduate plans) – Advice for Seniors”

Day in the Life: Program Analyst at the Office of the Inspector General of HHS

What is it like working for a government agency? What about alternatives to academe for PhD graduates?  Russ Tisinger, PhD, answered these questions when he posted to @PennCareerDay about his career at the Office of the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.  This was a great opportunity to also get more information on careers with the government following our Policy and Government Career Fair on Friday, September 28th. To learn more about this Annenberg alum, read his bio below.  To read his @PennCareerDay feed, visit our Storify page.

Russ Tisinger is a program analyst at the Office of Inspector General (OIG) of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS), which fights waste, fraud, and abuse in Medicare, Medicaid and more than 300 other HHS programs.  He earned a Ph.D. from University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School for Communication.  Before attending Annenberg he worked as a journalist in Washington, D.C. for Congressional Quarterly and The Center for Public Integrity.

Day in the Life: Consulting

@PennCareerDay is back! We’re excited to feature our award-winning, Day in the Life program for the third year on Twitter.

Ever wonder, what is it really like in consulting? What can I expect? What skills should I have and highlight to break into this field? Well, our first @PennCareerDay contributor, Shahbaz Alam, addressed those questions and more on Thursday, September 13th. To learn more about Shahbaz, read his bio below. To read his tweets, check them out on our Storify account.

Shahbaz Alam is a Manager in PwC’s Advisory (Consulting) practice focusing on helping companies improve their technology and operations.  Shahbaz’s projects spanned from designing, architecting and implementing large scale technology solutions to helping companies redesign their business processes to assisting companies develop forward looking strategies on how to meet the demands of their changing business and/or regulatory environment.

Shahbaz graduated from Penn in 2007 (and recently attended his 5-year reunion) with a concentration in Operations and Information Manage (OPIM).  While at Penn, Shahbaz was an RA for Harrison College House, a Freshman Experience Coordinator for Harrison, PHINS, Wharton Ambassador, College House Alumni Ambassador and worked for the School of Medicine.

Over the last 5 years with PwC, Shahbaz traveled throughout the US to places such as Arkansas, Ohio, Tennessee, Chicago, Orlando, DC, San Francisco and the world (Canada, Mexico, Uruguay, the Netherlands).  You can see Shahbaz during his multiple visits to Philly and Penn throughout the school year both in his role as the co-lead for PwC’s Advisory undergraduate recruiting for Penn and as an active alumnus.

In his spare time, Shahbaz enjoys catering to his wanderlust by jet-setting around the world (and calculating how to maximize the miles and points he earns from airlines and hotels), running, finding and eating at new restaurants (especially hole-in-the-walls) and nerding about by reading the NY Times.