Alumni Network

Alumni Network

I obtained my PhD in 2008. Since that time I have been working at Cargill in the Biotechnology Research and Development department. I currently have two people from the training grant in my department and we have had many strong interns over the years that we have acquired through our relationship with the training grant.

Erin Marasco, Principal Biochemist Cargill

Career Skills and Professional Development

Our Alumni Network, are a key resource for career insights and planning, and for professional development and networking. Our alumni regularly return to share their insight in different areas, including their experiences in career development and in balancing career and family. In our last winter retreat at the Itasca Biological Station, two alumni (Katie and Aaron Wlaschin) and their young children spent one weekend with our trainees.

The successes of our training grant alumni in their academic and industrial positions serve as the best examples for potential career trajectories in biotechnology for our current trainees. Importantly, our program has created a large appreciative and supportive group of alumni. Every alumnus who has received a request to speak at our training grant Alumni Symposium responded favorably. Our past trainees, of whom the vast majority joined the industrial sector, serve as an informal job referral group for our graduating trainees; our program routinely receives information on entry-level job opening for PhDs from many companies.

Training Grant Alumni

Industry

3M
AbbeVie Inc
Abbott Lab
Abbott Laboratories
Alexion Pharmaceuticals
Amyris
Ariad Pharmaceuticals, Cambridge MA
Auri
BDW Biotechnologies LLC
Beckman Coulter
Bend Research
Boehringer-Ingelheim
Bristol-Myers Squibb
Cargill
Cellectis Plant Sciences
CNA Corporation, Washington DC
Dupont
Edeniq Inc
Exact Sciences
General Mills
GENEWIZ
Gilead Sciences
H.B. Fuller Co
Invitrogen
IPNav
Kelco Biopolymers, San Diego
Mayo Clinic
Medtronic
Merck
Micromatrix Medical
New England BioLabs
Novozymes
Pentair
Pivot Bio
Promega Inc.
Scripps
Seagate Technology
SmithKline Beecham
St. Jude Medical
Syntiron, LLC
Sysmex Inostics
Tanox, Inc.
Valspar

Academia

Bethel University
College of Saint Benedict/Saint Johns University
Cornell Medical College
Dept Oncology Wayne State University
George Mason University
Hamline University
Imperial College London
Johns Hopkins University
Montana State University, Bozeman
Penn State University
Princeton University
Purdue University
Rutgers University
Saint Catherine University
Southern Illinois University School of Medicine
St. Cloud State University
Tufts University Dept Chem and Biol Eng
University of Arizona Dept. Of Chemical and Environmental Engineering
University of California-Davis
University of Illinois-Chicago
University of Louisville Medical Center
University of Pennsylvania
University of Pittsburgh
University of Wisconsin, Madison
Vanderbilt University
Western Michigan University

Government

Department of Defense
National Animal Disease Center
Naval Research Laboratory
UMN, Dept. Of Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology
USAID
USDA, Cereal Disease Laborartory
VA Medical Center, San Francisco