Past Events
Dinner with Dr. Anna Huttenlocher -- October 18th, 7 pm
6 WISAY members had dinner with Dr. Anna Huttenlocher. She is a facutly member at the University of Wisconsin, Madison as well as a practicing physician. It was a great opportunity to get to talk to her, especially for people who were thinking of going to medical school or getting an MD/PhD.
Introductory Meeting--October 7th, 4:30 pm.
A lot of new members came to our meeting, which was great. We went over our goals within the organization, upcoming events, our mentoring program, and talked.
End of the year mentoring dinner -- April 28, 2009, 6 pm, HGS 119A.
Enjoyed Ethiopian food over good conversation, which concluded the WISAY Mentoring Program for the academic year.
Breakfast with Professor Lily Jan -- May 3, 2009, 2009
A small group went out to breakfast with Professor Jan, a neurobiolgist at UC San Franciso (http://www.hhmi.org/research/investigators/janly_bio.html) studying potassium channels in the brain.
Dinner with Professor Carol Robinson -- March 8, 2009
WISAY members had the opportunity to go out with Professor Robinson, a well accomplished researcher at the University of Cambridge (http://www.ch.cam.ac.uk/staff/cvr.html) doing cutting edge research on mass spectrometry of complexes.
National Symposium for the Advancement of Women in Science -- Harvard University, February 6-7, 2009
This was the 5th of these conference (every other year) organized by Women in Science at Harvard-Radcliffe (WISHR). The symposium included a broad range of topics, from pannel discussions about therapeutics and AIDS, to green architecture, and using mathematics to enhance the possibilities of musical variations for composers. About 10 members of WISAY attended and had a great time!
Seminar: Get a foot in the door for job hunting biotech scientists --Bass 305 (266 Whitney Ave.), October 27th, 2008, 5:45 pm.
Our speaker will be Dr. Grace Wong, who is an accomplished scientist (see attachment). She gave a seminar in which she shared her life story and discussed her views on what it takes to get a job in the biotech industry. Pizza and refreshments were provided.
This is event was co-sponsored with YBPS
Leadership and Networking Workshop--Tuesday, September 23, 2008 at 4 pm in Bass Center 305 (266 Whitney Ave.)
Elaine Crowley, founder of The Crowley Group, a coaching and consulting firm specializing in building leadership and communication skills came to Yale once again to hold an interactive workshop on Leadership and Networking. With 30 years of experience in biopharma, she was an excellent speaker to have for WISAY. The workshop included filling out a survey on the DiSC model, and observing ourselves in action while trying to make a device from the materials provided, that would allow us to drop an egg from six feet without having it crack. Afterwards, a group of students went out to dinner with the speaker.
Pfizer-Yale Group Mentoring Discussion--May 7th, 2008, Pfizer Global R&D, New London, CT, 6-8:30 pm
This was the second year for the Pfizer mentoring program, where Yale graduate students and post-docs are mentored by Pfizer scientists. We were very excited to be able to organize a group mentoring discussion event and bring together our mentors, mentees, Yale faculty and other WISAY members. The event was sucessful and featured topics such as work life balance, career choices for a Ph.D. scientist, scientific research in industry, and how to prepare for a career in industry.
Careers in Industry Panel Discussion-- April 3rd, 2008, Bass Center 305, 6-7:30 pm
Together with Dr. Holly Sutter from the CT chapter of the Associaton for Women in Science, we hosted a panel discussion to explore differences between big pharma and small biotech or start-up company, how to go about finding a job in industry without having any contacts in the field, job security, how to best prepare for a career in industry, and any questions from the audience. The event was a great success with around 60 participants, some from other institutions as well, such as UConn.
Our panelists were Dr. Denice Spero, the CEO of Developing World Cures, Dr. Michelle Kelly, Senior Director, Pfizer Global R&D, Dr. Guene Thio, Scientist, Invitrogen and Dr. Dawn Mattoon, R&D Manager, Invitrogen.
Regional Women in Science and Engineering Conference--February 8 and 9, 2008, Brown University
Hannah and Doro went to a conference at Brown University with women from the northeast section of Graduate Women in Science and Engineering (ne-GWISE). We learned about group similar to WISAY that exsits at other universities, and gave a presentation on WISAY's setup and goals. Among the participants were people from Tufts, Harvard, Princeton, and Boston University. ne-gwise
Teaching Beyond Yale For Scientists--January 22, 2008, 12:30 pm-1:30 pm, Peabody Auditorium (170 Whitney Ave.)
Together with the Gradute Teaching Center and the Graduate Career Services, we assembled a panel of 4 academics, ranging from big research schools to small liberal arts colleges, and learned more about how to prepare for academic jobs at various institutions. The panelists also shared with us what their job entails and why they enjoy what they do day to day. Lunch was also served for those who came hungry.
Find out who our panelists were
Breakfast with Eugenie Scott --December 17, 2007, 9am-10:30am, Bass Center 326
WISAY members had the opportunity to have breakfast with Eugenie Scott, the executive director of the National Center for Science Education, a not for profit membership organization in Oakland, CA, of scientists, teachers, and others that works to improve the teaching of evolution, and of science as a way of knowing.
Invitrogen Networking Event--November 13, 2007, 9am-10:30am, LaCuisine, Branford, CT
WISAY members met with iWIN (Invitrogen's Wome's Influential Network) over breakfast and discussed what it's like to work in a biotech company. WISAY is very thankful for Invitrogen providing this opportunity!
Discussion on data analysis--October 23, 2007 at 5:30 pm, Bass 405 (266 Whitney Ave.)
We discussed whether most science studies appear to be tainted by sloppy analysis as well as publishing in academia. Our discussion was based on the most downloaded thecnical paper that the journal of PLOS Medicine has ever published download PDF and the responses (response #1 --scroll down all the way to the end and response #2) as well as a New York Times article discussing the issue.
WISAY Mentoring Program Introductory meeting-- October 23, 2007
Currently we have about 30 pairs matched, so this should be a great year for the program!
Careers in Science Policy and the Federal Government"--Seminar, September 18, 2007, 4:30 p.m., Bass Center 405 (266 Whitney Ave.)
Dr. Julie A. Carruthers, a former Yale graduate student, discussed what it entails to work as a science and technology policy advisor. Following the seminar a select number of WISAY members went out to dinner with the speaker.
More about our spekaer:
Dr. Julie A. Carruthers is a Science and Technology Policy Advisor for the Office of Science at the U.S. Department of Energy. She spent two years in the DOE Office of Science as a Science and Technology Policy Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science before accepting her current position. Prior to coming to DOE she spent a year in the office of U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein as an American Chemical Society Congressional Fellow. There she advised the Senator and was responsible for issues related to water contaminants, emerging environmental contaminants, ocean and coastal policy, public lands, Federal funding of science and technology research, and energy and climate change. Before arriving in Washington , DC , she was a Camille and Henry Dreyfus Postdoctoral Fellow in Environmental Chemistry at the University of Massachusetts , Boston in the Environmental, Coastal, and Ocean Sciences department where she also served on a scientific advisory board advising city officials on water quality issues in Boston Harbor. She received her Ph.D. in chemistry with an emphasis in biophysics from the Chemistry Department at Yale University and a B.S. in chemistry from the University of California , Santa Cruz.
Introductory WISAY Meeting--September 11, 2007, 6:00 pm, Bass Center 405
We had a great turnout at our intro meeting where new and old members got to network. Various events planned for the year were also discussed.
Career Discussion with Dr. Jennifer Lippincott-Schwartz -- May 6, 2007, 7:45 pm, Bass Center 405
Dr. Lippincott-Schwartz, a well established and successful scientist from the NIH, discussed interesting aspects of her career and shared her opinions on a variety of subjects with WISAY members. This seminar was extremely useful to those interested in persuing a post-doc and/or and academic career path.
Panel Discussion--Children and careers: when and how should you plan?
Feb. 20, 2007, 3:30 pm-5 p.m. in 317 Linsly Chittenden Hall (63 High st.)
Have you ever wondered how having children will affect your career? Have you ever wondered whether there is a right time to have kids? We heard from 5 panelists both in the sciences and non-sciences who have had one or more kids at various points in their career. Following some guided questions, the discussion was opened up to the audiance. Food and drinks were provided. Co-sponsored by WISAY, WFF, the Post-doctoral Career Development Lecture Series, and the work life program..
Seminar/Discussion with Jane Jervis--January 24, 2007 at 4:30 p.m. Bass Center 405 (266 Whitney Ave)
Jane discussed her career path, which involved getting a Ph.D. at age 40 and being dean and president at liberal arts colleges. Following her presentation the seminar was opened up for discussion.
Discussion with Gisela Storz-- December 12, 2006 at 8:30 A.M., BASS 205 (266 Whitney Ave)
Wisay member had the opportunity to have breakfast with Dr. Storz, the head of the Section on Environmental Gene Regulation at the NIH. Several topics were discussed among them various career paths, advantages and disadvantages of working at the NIH, and the current funding situation in science.
WISAY Mentoring Program--Casual Mentoring Gathering-- November 28, 2006, 7pm HGS119B
Mentors helped mentees with application essays over coffe and nibbles.
Seminar and Dinner with Elaine Crowley-- November 15, 2006 at 4 pm in Bass 405
"After Hello: Conversational Protocols"
Elain Crowley helped us explore
how conversation works, taught 7 conversational protocols, and how to work a room with confidence. After the seminar a group of WISAY members went out to dinner with Ms. Crowley. Our speaker, Elaine Crowley, M.Ed. is the founder of The Crowley Group,
a coaching and consulting firm specializing in building leadership and
communication skills. She served as SVP, Human Resources and
Organizational Development at 2 biotech and 2 high tech firms prior to
founding her company.
WISAY Mentoring Apple/Pumpkin Picking-- October 7, 2006
With the start of fall, WISAY mentoring program members went to Lyman Orchard to pick some apples and pumpkins. Cider and snacks were provided.
Introductory WISAY meeting-- September 14, 2006, 6 p.m. in Bass 405 (266 Whitney Ave. 4th floor of building). Food and beverages provided.
WISAY grad students and post-docs joined us for a round of Bingo--the winner was awarded a $25 gift certificate to Amazon.
Introductory WISAY Mentoring meeting, September 12, 2006, HGS119, 6:30 p.m.
Potentials mentors and mentees foud out what the mentoring program has to offer this year and enjoyed conversing over pizza and beverages. Surveys were also filled out by those interested in joining the program. Currently, our mentoring program is full.
WISAY social and networking event- Champagne at the Medical School
Thursday June 29, 2006 6 pm Common Room, BCMM 208
WISAY members relaxed over some food and drinks and great conversations.
