All Times EDT
Keywords: Leadership, mentorship, collaboration
Students and young professionals with statistics, biostatistics, or data science degrees have numerous career options to consider. This plethora of options can be exciting, but it can also be a source of anxiety. How important are particular skills or coursework for a given industry? Are statistical and applied publications necessary to advance a career? Is it possible to change jobs between industry, academia, and government, and are some transitions more challenging than others? Do I really need to learn that new programming language? The answers to these and many other questions is: It depends! Believe it or not, no two personal, academic, or career paths are the same. The best and most practical advice is to engage with experienced statisticians and data scientists to understand how they navigated school and their careers, and how their journeys may or may not apply to your first (or next) job. In this roundtable, H.M. James Hung (Director of Division of Biometrics I, CDER, FDA) and Richard C. Zink (Senior Director, Data Management and Statistics, TARGET PharmaSolutions) will use their 49 years of professional experience to facilitate discussion to answer questions related to academic and professional goals. Their professional experience spans the pharmaceutical industry and FDA, software and real-world data companies, and academia. Come with your questions and be ready to converse!