Careers in Business and Law: Jumping off the Traditional Career Path
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
The New York Academy of Sciences
Join Science Alliance to explore how a scientist moves into patent law, the financial sector, and consulting.
Consulting:
Jessica Blumstein, PhD
Capgemini
Jessica Blumstein is currently a manager in the life sciences practice of Capgemini, where she provides consulting services to life sciences companies. Her experience in management consulting has focused on strategic planning, operational decision-making, and therapeutic area and product-specific support. Prior to consulting with Capgemini, Blumstein helped build several startups, ranging from her own biotechnology company to a life sciences advisory services company.
Her graduate research was conducted in the Department of Cell Biology at the University of California, San Francisco. The focus of her thesis was the characterization of a neuronal adaptor protein complex determined to be required for synaptic vesicle formation from endosomes. Her undergraduate research was performed at the Carnegie Institution of Washington on the campus of the Johns Hopkins University, where she received a BA in biology.
Patent Law:
Hajime Sakai, PhD
Darby & Darby, P.C.
Hajime Sakai specializes in physical chemistry, with a focus on measures of order and correlation in condensed matters in general and how the order and correlation manifest themselves in the properties of liquids, glasses and solids specifically.
Prior to joining Darby & Darby, Sakai worked at another intellectual property law firm in New York City, where he gained litigation experience.
Sakai worked as a summer research assistant at Columbia Law School under Jack Greenberg, a recipient of the Presidential Citizens Medal from former President Bill Clinton for his contributions to civil rights. Prior to attending Columbia, Sakai was a postdoctoral researcher at Princeton University, where he carried out theoretical and computer-simulation research on disordered heterogeneous materials, liquids, and amorphous solids.
For his dissertation work at UCLA, Sakai conducted studies on adapting Fourier transformation for the purpose of extracting information on correlation lengths of non-crystalline macroscopic systems that are only modestly ordered. For his bachelor's thesis work at the University of Tokyo, he was engaged in the syntheses of organic compounds in which a thermodynamically unstable group such as a nitrogen radical is kinetically stabilized by means of steric protection.
Financial:
Arthur H. Tinkelenberg, PhD
Ascent Biomedical Ventures
Prior to joining Ascent Biomedical Ventures, Arthur Tinkelenberg worked in the Healthcare Investment Banking and Mergers and Acquisitions Groups at Robertson Stephens, where he advised clients on strategic and financing alternatives, and participated in over $250 million in public, private, and merger transactions for biotechnology, medical device, and diagnostics companies. He currently serves on the board of directors of Crosstrees Medical and is a board observer for Azevan Pharmaceuticals and Metronome Therapeutics.
Tinkelenberg conducted research in lipid metabolism, genomics, biochemistry, and cell biology as a research scientist at Columbia University, and is an inventor on a number of issued and pending patent applications.
Tinkelenberg earned his PhD in molecular genetics from the Rockefeller University, where he studied cell growth regulation and signal transduction as a Rockefeller and National Science Foundation Fellow. He earned his BA in biology (with honors) from Grinnell College.
Michael Leventon, PhD
D. E. Shaw & Co., L.P.
Michael Leventon is a quantitative analyst at D. E. Shaw & Co. where he uses mathematical techniques to analyze problems relevant to trading in the financial markets.
Prior to D. E. Shaw & Co., Dr. Leventon was Vice Presi