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PEOPLE

This initiative is driven by a group of individuals with a wide variety of perspectives on career and professional development of PhD scientists.

STEERING COMMITTEE

  • Cynthia Fuhrmann

    Cynthia Fuhrmann , PhD

    Principal Investigator

    Cynthia Fuhrmann, Ph.D.

    Principal Investigator, pd|hub
    Associate Professor, RNA Therapeutics Institute and Biochemistry & Molecular Pharmacology; University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School

    Trained as a chemist/structural biologist, Dr. Cynthia Fuhrmann brings more than 15 years of experience directing programs and curricula in professional development for early-career scientists, first at UCSF and then at UMass Chan Medical School. Her 2011 study of the career preferences of biomedical graduate students contributed to national awareness of the diversification of career paths for biomedical PhDs. At UMass Chan Medical School, Dr. Fuhrmann led an innovative effort to integrate career planning and professional development into the core doctoral and postdoctoral curricula required for all trainees. She co-developed and co-authored myIDP, an interactive career-planning website hosted by AAAS with more than 200,000 users, and continues scholarship focused on Individual Development Plans for scientists. Along with Dr. Bruce Alberts, Dr. Fuhrmann co-chaired the 2016 working group that initiated the concept for pd|hub, and has led pd|hub's growth since that time.

    More about Dr. Cynthia Fuhrmann >

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  • Barbara Natalizio

    Barbara Natalizio , PhD

    Staff, Program Manager

    Barbara Natalizio Ph.D.

    Program Manager, pd|hub

    Dr. Barbara Natalizio is the Program Manager for pd|hub. Dr. Natalizio has been an advocate for Ph.D. career and professional development and actively contributed to advancing these goals through numerous national roles.  Her previous experience includes as a Science Program Administrator at the Rita Allen Foundation, Chair of the Board of Directors and Interim Executive Director for the National Postdoctoral Association, and Vice President for Finance for the Association for Women in Science DC Metropolitan Chapter. Dr. Natalizio was a Program Officer with the Board on Higher Education and Workforce at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, and worked in the Division of Graduate Education at the National Science Foundation as a AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellow. Prior to joining pd|hub staff as Program Manager in 2020, she co-chaired the committee that organized the 2019 pd|hub Stakeholder Workshop. She earned her bachelor’s degree in biochemistry and history from Montclair State University and her Ph.D. in molecular genetics and microbiology from Duke University.

    More about Dr. Barbara Natalizio >

  • Katie Kearns

    Katie Kearns , PhD

    Staff, Collections Specialist

    Katie Kearns Ph.D.

    Collections Specialist, pd|hub

    Dr. Katie Kearns is the Collections Specialist for pd|hub. From 2005 to 2023, Dr. Kearns worked for Indiana University's teaching center and graduate school, facilitating communities of practice to support the professional development and personal growth of graduate students and postdocs. As an instructional consultant, she coached graduate students and led workshops and learning communities on course design, active learning, teaching statements, critical feminist pedagogy, and scholarship of teaching and learning. In 2019, she joined the University Graduate School as assistant vice provost for student development, contributing to broader graduate student professional development efforts both on the Bloomington campus and nationally as part of the Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning (CIRTL). She has been an active leader in the Professional and Organizational Development (POD) Network; she was a chair of the Graduate student, Professional student, & Postdoctoral scholar Development (GPPD) special interest group and recently served a three-year term on POD's governing board. Dr. Kearns co-edited two books, Teaching as if Learning Matters (Indiana University Press, 2022) and Higher Education Careers Beyond the Professoriate (Purdue University Press, 2024) and has published in educational development journals. She received a bachelor's degree in biology from Cornell University and a PhD in ecology from the University of Georgia.

    More about Dr. Katie Kearns >

  • Krista Lewis

    Krista Lewis

    Staff

    Krista Lewis

    Administrative Coordinator, pd|hub

    Krista Lewis is the Administrative Coordinator for pd|hub. She joined the RNA Therapeutics Institute, pd|hub’s home department at UMass Chan Medical School, after spending 6 years with Shields MRI as a clinical support specialist. She completed her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration at Cambridge College while being a full-time mother and administrative professional. She applies this extensive experience to her role with pd|hub, which includes coordinating schedules, meetings, and event planning; financial tracking, reporting, and grants/contract management; and other administrative support. Krista’s hobbies include going to live concerts, boating, hiking, spending time with her children pursuing their individual interests, and attending their sporting events.

  • Ryan Bixenmann

    Ryan Bixenmann , PhD

    Steering Committee, Workshop Committee (co-chair)

    Ryan Bixenmann Ph.D.

    Senior Science Officer, California Council on Science and Technology

    Dr. Ryan Bixenmann has been involved with the pd|hub initiative through various roles since its inception. Dr. Bixenmann entered the field of gradaute education practice and policy as a AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellow in the National Science Foundation Division of Graduate Education. He served as Director for PhD Career Services at Michigan State University where he developed and implemented a multifaceted approached to raising career awareness and preparedness among doctoral students and postdoctoral scholars. At UC Davis, Dr. Bixenmann developed data visualizations to communicate graduate program statistics and career outcomes as part of the Coalition for Next Generation Life Sciences. He now acts as Senior Science Officer at the California Council on Science and Technology. He holds a PhD in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from the University of Utah, a BS in Biology from Mesa State College, and conducted postdoctoral research at Montana State University.

    More about Dr. Ryan Bixenmann >

  • Lauren Celano

    Lauren Celano , MBA

    Steering Committee

    Lauren Celano MBA

    CEO, Propel Careers

    Lauren is the Co-founder and CEO of Propel Careers and has helped thousands of students, postdocs, and professionals advance their careers. Before Propel, she spent 10 years in life sciences with SNBL USA, Aptuit, Quintiles, and Absorption Systems. She has a B.S. (Biochemistry & Molecular Biology; Gettysburg College) and an MBA (health sector & entrepreneurship focus; Boston University). Lauren is on the Board of MassBioEd, the Advisory Boards of BU’s SPH Pharmaceuticals Program, the Professional Science Masters at Framingham State University and NE GWISE, and serves on the selection committee for ILC’s Life Sciences Immigrant Entrepreneur of the Year Award.

    More about Lauren Celano >

    icon-linkedin.gif LinkedIn

  • David Feldon

    David Feldon , PhD

    Steering Committee, pd|hub Collections

    David Feldon, PhD

    Professor of Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences, Utah State University

    Dr. David Feldon’s scholarship identifies mechanisms of graduate education that facilitate the equitable development of expertise in STEM disciplines. His research attempts to build bridges from a deep understanding of motivation and cognition to broader cultural and structural influences that shape pathways to expertise and modes of professional success. Dr. Feldon is also the director of assessment for a HHMI Inclusive Excellence award and the external evaluator for the Virginia-North Carolina Alliance for Minority Participation and the Southern Regional Education Board’s Institute for Teaching and Mentoring.

    More about Dr. David Feldon >

  • Joanne Kamens

    Joanne Kamens , PhD

    Steering Committee, Funding Working Group

    Joanne Kamens Ph.D.

    Non-profit Executive
     
    Dr. Joanne Kamens' career so far has spanned academia, pharma, biotechnology and nonprofits. Most recently, Dr. Kamens served for nearly ten years as Executive Director of Addgene, a mission driven, nonprofit dedicated to facilitating collaboration and materials sharing in the scientific community. Previous to that role, Dr. Kamens spent 15 years at BASF and Abbott and was Senior Director of Research Collaborations at RXi Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Kamens founded the Boston chapter of the Association of Women in Science and is a Fellow of the Massachusetts Academy of Sciences. She holds a PhD in Genetics from Harvard Medical School and a BA in Biology from the University of Pennsylvania.

    More about Dr. Joanne Kamens >

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  • Bill Lindstaedt

    Bill Lindstaedt , MS

    Steering Committee, pd|hub Collections

    Bill Lindstaedt M.S.

    Co-Investigator, pd|hub Collections

    Former Assistant Vice Chancellor, Career Advancement, International and Postdoctoral Services, University of California, San Francisco

    Bill Lindstaedt has been helping scientists and engineers launch successful careers for 30 years.  From 2001-2023, he supported the career development needs of PhD students, postdocs and their faculty mentors at the University of California San Francisco.  In his career counseling practice, he developed particular expertise working with biomedical scientists as they transition from academic positions to careers in the biotech/pharma sector.  While at UCSF, Bill co-authored Science’s “myIDP”, a web-based career development tool which has been used by more than 300,000 scientists and is recommended by dozens of graduate and postdoctoral programs around the country.  Recently retired from UCSF, he now serves as co-Investigator on the NIH-funded pd|hub Collections initiative to build STEM PhD professional development resources across institutions.  Additionally, he serves as a contracted career consultant with the Academic Programs Office at St. Jude Childrens’ Research Hospital and with Emory University’s Office of Postdoctoral Education.

    More about Mr. Bill Lindstaedt >

    icon-linkedin.gif LinkedIn

WORKING GROUP MEMBERS

  • Renske Dyedov

    Renske Dyedov , PhD

    Communications Working Group (co-chair)

    Renske Dyedov, Ph.D.

    Communications Manager, Molecular Engineering & Sciences Institute, University of Washington

    Dr. Renske Dyedov manages communications for two research institutes at the University of Washington. Previously, she was a program management and communications consultant for clients including the Washington State Academy of Sciences, and Engineers and Scientists Acting Locally. Prior to that, she ran a leadership development program for graduate students hosted by the American Association for the Advancement of Science and was a Mirzayan Science and Technology Policy Fellow at the National Academies. She holds a PhD in Cell and Molecular Biology from the University of Pennsylvania and a BS in Chemical Biology from the University of California, Berkeley.

    More about Dr. Renske Dyedov >

  • Maryrose Franko

    Maryrose Franko , PhD

    Funding Working Group

    Maryrose Franko, Ph.D.

    Executive Director, Health Research Alliance 

    Dr. Maryrose Franko sets strategic priorities and develops tools and programs to advance the goals of members of the Health Research Alliance (HRA). Dr. Franko previously worked in program management at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), including running graduate programs at the Janelia Research Campus and developing the Making the Right Moves guide. Dr. Franko was a founding board member of the HRA and initiated its early career-focused working group. She received a PhD in Molecular Genetics from the University of Southern California and a BS in Biology from John Carroll University.

    More about Dr. Maryrose Franko >

  • Erica Gobrogge

    Erica Gobrogge , PhD

    Workshop Committee, Communications Working Group (co-chair)

    Erica Gobrogge Ph.D.

    Postdoctoral Affairs Specialist, Van Andel Research Institute

    Dr. Erica Gobrogge leads professional development for postdoctoral fellows at Van Andel Institute. Previously, Dr. Gobrogge was the Education and Professional Development Manager at the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Dr. Gobrogge also has served in multiple capacities with various science education and professional development projects at the local and national level. She earned a PhD in Molecular Microbiology at Washington University in St. Louis and a BA in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Hendrix College.

    More about Dr. Erica Gobrogge >

  • Kimberly Griffin

    Kimberly Griffin , PhD

    pd|hub Collections

    Kimberly Griffin Ph.D.

    Professor, Higher Education, Student Affairs, and International Education Policy Program
    Dean, College of Education
    University of Maryland

    Dr. Kimberly Griffin is Dean of the College of Education and a Professor in the Higher Education, Student Affairs, and International Education Policy Program (Student Affairs Area of Specialization). Dr. Griffin's research interests are primarily focused in three areas: diversity and equity in graduate education and the professoriate; diversity within the Black higher education community; and mentoring and career development. She brings to the core pd|hub Collections team expertise in centering equity, inclusion, belonging, and justice in graduate education and career development.


    More about Dr. Kimberly Griffin >

  • Karri Holley

    Karri Holley , PhD

    pd|hub Collections

    Kari Holley Ph.D.

    Professor, Higher Education
    University of Alabama

    Dr. Karri Holley is Professor of Higher Education at The University of Alabama. Her research examines interdisciplinarity, graduate education, organizational change in higher education, and qualitative inquiry. She currently works with evaluation efforts for projects focused on transformative graduate curricula (NSF NRT), the undergraduate transfer student pipeline into STEM disciplines (NSF S-STEM), and international higher education (USAID).


    More about Dr. Karri Holley >

  • Andrew Hartman

    Andrew Hartman , MEd, NBC-HWC, CPMC

    pd|hub Collections

    Andrew Hartman MEd, NBC-HWC, CPMC

    Evaluation Consultant
    Founder, PSYSTEM

    Andrew Hartman (they/them), is a queer, Métis evaluator and applied social psychology Ph.D. candidate at the University of Saskatchewan. Andrew brings evaluation expertise to the design and execution of pd|hub's cross-Site  study, testing learner outcomes across the pd|hub Collection models. They have led evaluations at local and national levels utilizing an array of theoretical approaches and mixed-method designs. Their primary areas of focus are undergraduate and graduate student affairs programming, STEM pipelines, housing, 2SLGBTQ+ youth homelessness, gender-based violence, help-seeking, and psychological healing. Andrew has been sharing evaluation knowledge through evaluation workshops, assisting in graduate program evaluation course lectures, mentoring emerging evaluators, and presenting and publishing on queer and community-based participatory evaluation and research. Andrew has a love for evaluation and using evaluation to amplify the voices of those who access services.


    More about Andrew Hartman >

  • Sonia Hall

    Sonia Hall , PhD

    Funding Working Group

    Sonia Hall, Ph.D.

    President & CEO, BioKansas

    Dr. Sonia Hall focuses on building the bioscience ecosystem in her role at BioKansas. Previously, Dr. Hall was Director of Engagement and Development at the Genetics Society of America and conducted postdoctoral research and training in academic administration at the UMass Chan Medical School. Dr. Hall has volunteered her time on the board of Future of Research. She earned a PhD in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology and a BS in Biology at the University of Kansas.

    More about Dr. Sonia Hall >

  • Louis Justement

    Louis Justement , PhD

    Workshop Committee, Communications Working Group, former Funding Working Group chair

    Louis Justement Ph.D.

    Professor of Microbiology, Director, Graduate Biomedical Sciences Immunology Theme,
    Director, Undergraduate Immunology Program,
    Associate Director, Medical Scientist Training Program,
    University of Alabama, Birmingham

    Dr. Louis Justement is a faculty member who is heavily involved in ensuring training and career opportunities for early career scientists. Dr. Justement is Vice President for Science Policy, Chair, Training and Career Opportunities Subcommittee, and President-Elect of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) and serves on the Society for Leukocyte Biology (SLB) Professional Development Committee. He holds a PhD and MS in Microbiology from the Ohio State University, and a BA in Microbiology from Miami University in Ohio.

    More about Dr. Justement >

  • Victoria McGovern

    Victoria McGovern , PhD

    Funding Working Group

    Victoria McGovern, Ph.D.

    Senior Program Officer, Burroughs Wellcome Fund

    Dr. Victoria McGovern runs the Career Guidance for Trainees program and the Infectious Disease and Population Health portfolios in her role at the Burroughs Wellcome Fund. Dr. McGovern has served in many roles supporting scientific workforce development through organizations including the National Postdoctoral Association, American Society for Microbiology, and Genetics Society of America, and has written articles for Science Careers and the Carpe Careers blog. She earned a PhD in Biochemistry at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and BS degrees in Biology and English Literature at Washington University.

    More about Dr. Victoria McGovern >

  • Christine Pfund

    Christine Pfund , PhD

    pd|hub Collections

    Christine Pfund Ph.D.

    Director, Center for the Improvement of Mentored Experiences in Research
    Principal Investigator, National Research Mentoring Network Coordination Center
    Senior Scientist, University of Wisconsin-Madison

    Christine Pfund (she/her) is a senior scientist with the Wisconsin Center for Education Research and the Department of Medicine at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW). She is also director of the Center for the Improvement of Mentored Experience in Research at UW-Madison (CIMER) and the principal investigator of the National Research Mentoring Network (NRMN) Coordination Center. Dr. Pfund’s work focuses on developing, implementing, documenting, and studying interventions to optimize research mentoring relationships across science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEMM). Dr. Pfund co-authored the original Entering Mentoring curriculum and co-authored many papers documenting the effectiveness of this approach. She is a member of the National Academies committee that published the consensus report and online guide, The Science of Effective Mentorship in STEMM.

    Dr. Pfund and the CIMER team bring to the pd|hub Collections project years of experience leading training and support for implementation and evaluation in the graduate education sphere.

    More about Dr. Christine Pfund's work >

  • Mary O’Riordan

    Mary O’Riordan , PhD

    Workshop Committee

    Mary O’Riordan, PhD

    Associate Dean of Graduate & Postdoctoral Studies,
    Frederick C. Neidhardt Collegiate Professor of Microbiology & Immunology,
    University of Michigan Medical School

    Dr. O’Riordan oversees graduate and postdoctoral training at the University of Michigan Medical School. Dr. O’Riordan joined the faculty at the University of Michigan in 2003 and previously was Associate Director of the Cellular Biotechnology Training Program. Dr. O’Riordan is a National Academy of Sciences Kavli Fellow. She received a PhD in immunology from the University of California, San Francisco, an MA in Molecular Biology from Princeton University, and a BS in Biology from the University of Washington.

    More about Dr. Mary O'Riordan >

  • Shoba Subramanian

    Shoba Subramanian , PhD

    Communications Working Group

    Shoba Subramanian, Ph.D.

    Director of Curriculum and Educational Initiatives, University of Michigan Medical School Office of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies

    Dr. Shoba Subramanian directs the career and professional development team and leads curriculum and mentoring initiatives at the University of Michigan (UM) Medical School. Previously, Dr. Subramanian was the Assistant Department Head for Graduate Affairs at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), where she directly advised and taught hundreds of students, and received awards for educational innovation. She reformed the curriculum for CMU’s interdisciplinary MS in Computational Biology program, and helped found a new BS program in Biological Sciences at CMU-Qatar. Dr. Subramanian holds a PhD in Biological Sciences from CMU, and an MSc in Molecular Biology from the University of Madras.

    More about Dr. Shoba Subramanian >

 

ADVISORS and FORMER STEERING COMMITTEE / WORKING GROUP MEMBERS

Bruce Alberts

Mónica Feliú-Mójer

Jennifer Griffin

Yasmeen Hussain

Ken Maynard

Chris Pickett

Melanie Sinche

Wes Sundquist

Rick Tankersley