Consultant Spotlight - July 2025

How long have you been with miLEAD? 

I joined in May 2024, so about a year.

What is the focus of your research?

I develop signal processing/machine learning methods to decode the spatial organization of the disease microenvironment. For any disease and especially cancer, the physical arrangement of cells, and therefore their cross-talk and function, changes through stages of progression and disease grade. If we only look at aggregate molecular information from the disease site, we might miss crucial information that could provide insight into disease stage and potential treatment response. Thus, the goal of my research is to identify, interpret, and use spatial biomarkers to predict clinical outcomes.

What are your current career goals?

I'm exploring several options in the biotech industry, whether research scientist positions or technical consulting. Both miLEAD and my research collaborations helped me realize that I enjoy using analytical thinking to come up with creative solutions to problems in diverse fields.

What roles have you played on projects? 

I finished my first consulting project for miLEAD spring of this year. Since it was a large 8-week project, I was able to do both primary and secondary research. I cold-emailed over 60 companies, conducted research on the pharmaceutical and digital health markets, and came up with a tier strategy on how our team should approach the problem statement.

What led you to seek out miLEAD?

I always wanted to go into industry after my PhD and was focused on technical positions, as my background is in engineering/method development. However, I was curious what other industry opportunities were available, what consulting was like, and whether my skills and interests would be a good fit for careers in the business of science. miLEAD projects and workshops offer a great way to do all of the above.

Since joining miLEAD, what skills have you been able to develop?

From both attending miLEAD events and my project this year, I've learned how to learn quickly, present with confidence and clarity on a new topic, and collaborative communication. Usually, research is done in a field that you are already familiar with, where you drive your own work, so it can be uncomfortable to be thrown into a new field and be expected to both learn and provide advice on it within a few weeks. Engaging in miLEAD events and projects has helped me practice this, making me a more confident, supportive teammate and presenter in the process.

What has been one of your most rewarding experiences thus far working with miLEAD? 

During my project this year, I combined both primary and secondary research to reach out to companies within different biotech subsectors. To do this, I came up with an analogy for organizing the company’s relevance to the deliverable, and this analogy was used by others on the team up to the end of the project. It was motivating to see that my small idea proved valuable to the final deliverable.