我们的毕业生在做什么

Six weeks into the summer semester of the Medical Biotechnology program solidified Elizabeth Luke’s career goals.

Liz spent those weeks in the Microbiology course required of Medical Biotechnology students between their junior and senior year.

六周的强化课程, 由助理教授詹姆斯·沃斯勒授课, MS, introduced Liz to the growing field of infectious disease research, 这使她下定了决心.

“For a while I thought about medical school but I decided against that,” she said.

Liz graduated from Onondaga Community College with an associate’s degree in Mathematics and Science, 直接来到上州进行生物医学研究.

“我们的导师非常乐于助人，”她说. “我们得到了很多一对一的建议.”

The lessons and techniques Liz learned throughout the Medical Biotechnology curriculum, including Western blot and PCR (polymerase chain reaction) testing, have been challenging but are proving valuable -- “even things that I didn’t think would help at the time,” she said.

In her senior year internship in the lab of Upstate’s William Kerr, PhD, she worked with post-doctoral faculty on projects researching a protein known as SHIP.

The protein plays a role in the immune system and is being studied in relation to a variety of illnesses and conditions, including cancer, 肥胖和炎症性肠病.

Liz is using her BS degree in Medical Biotechnology as a foundation to pursue graduate education in infectious disease research. She is enrolled in the New York State Department of Health Master of Science in Laboratory Sciences program at the Wadsworth Center, Albany.

Michael Miller found a home in the Medical Biotechnology program at Upstate.

“这绝对是一个关系紧密的团体，”他说. “教授随时待命，随时为你服务. It’s a very intimate setting.”

At most, Michael said, there are 20 students when the Med Biotech students are with Medical Technology students and Medical Scholars in some classes. The small class sizes and availability and expertise of the faculty are a tremendous benefit of the program, he said.

“The Immunology course lit a fire for me,” Michael said of the 3.由Linda Miller教授教授的5学分课程. “In that course in particular, a lot of things come into play with infectious disease.”

Michael spent his senior year internship in the lab of Gary Chan, PhD, 研究人类巨细胞病毒, 它的副作用和它在几种疾病中的作用, 包括动脉粥样硬化和多器官衰竭.

“我们正试图弄清楚病毒是如何逃避细胞凋亡的, 它是如何劫持信号来帮助自己生存的,” he said.

Michael found the research team he worked with during his internship to be “super supportive in taking on an undergraduate” into their research lab.

迈克尔毕业后将留在上州大学. He’s pursuing a PhD in Microbiology and Immunology in the College of Graduate Studies in the same laboratory where he performed his undergraduate research internship.

贾马尔在非斯出生长大, 在搬到锡拉丘兹之前, 在纽约继续他的本科和研究生训练. 从医学生物技术专业毕业后, 贾马尔在纽约州立大学继续他的学业. He obtained a Master’s degree in Medical Technology in through the Medical Scholars program, 然后从上州医学院毕业.

Jamal placed in the top 30 percent of his first and second year Medical school classes, 并在第三年获得了优秀的成绩. He was one of 12 students in his Class that were elected to the National Student Honor Society, Alpha Omega Alpha – and the first graduate of the Medical Scholars program to be selected for the AOA.

Jamal said his medical school education was enhanced by the Medical Biotechnology and the Medical Scholars programs. Jamal conducted research in Upstate’s prestigious Center for Vision Research while in those programs.

“Without these two programs, I would not have attended and received the high quality education that is offered in the Upstate Medical University College of Medicine,” he said.

Jamal is currently a resident specializing in Internal Medicine at Emory University School of Medicine. 在完成住院医师培训之后, Jamal plans to pursue a fellowship in interventional cardiology.

Dena Martin has used what she learned in the Medical Biotechnology program every day in her career. Following graduation, she worked for nearly five years as the Clinical Research Coordinator for Radiation Oncology at the Upstate Cancer Center. She is currently employed as a Clinical Research Associate at Covance, a global contract research organization that works on major pharmaceutical drugs through a spectrum of nonclinical, 临床及商业化服务.

“The Medical Biotechnology degree provides the knowledge base for what I do,” said Dena. In her positions, 她负责管理临床研究法规, protocols, data, patient care and support.

“There’s a lot of molecular biology involved in oncology research,” Dena said. “It takes bench science and applies it in the clinical setting. 这是一个很好的基础.”

迪娜说她的医学生物技术课很团结, 学生们“非常善于互相帮助. 我们平衡了彼此的优缺点. We became a very close group.”

Dena’s senior internship was at the county forensic crime laboratory next to campus. “(Professor) Linda Miller basically created that internship for me because she knew of my interest in the field,” she said. “这是一个非常个性化的项目，拥有出色的师资队伍.”

医学生物技术项目“从第一天就开始动手”, when you put on the white coat and they hand you the gloves and your microscope,” Dena said. “There are lectures, of course, but the majority of it is hands-on.”

It’s also a rigorous program, she said, one that “definitely makes you stand up and talk. 这是一个学习如何展示你的作品的好方法.” 

Assistant Professor James Vossler was the faculty advisor for Dena’s senior project, which measured antibacterial activity on plastic chips containing silver additives. She won a John Bernard Henry Endowment scholarship, and presented at Student Research Day in 2010.

As a non-traditional student who was established in the workforce and had two children, 迪娜从不觉得自己和同学不合群. “无论年龄大小，我们都合作得很好，”她说. “There is such professionalism among the faculty and students; they treat you like a colleague and a professional.”

Dena recently began pursuing a master’s degree in Health Services Administration at SUNY Oswego.

Two months after graduating from Upstate’s Medical Biotechnology program, Rakibou Ouro-Djobo began working as a research associate with Berg Pharma, 弗雷明汉的一家制药开发公司, Mass.

He was promoted to Senior Research Associate and was a team leader studying the biology of prostate cancer biomarkers. 拉基布还在伯格研究了其他癌细胞系, and was involved in studying the mechanism of an experimental cancer drug, BPM31510.

“This profession will enable me to be on the front line in the effort to identify the root causes of diseases and come up with solutions to help relieve society’s illnesses,” Rakibou said.

While at Upstate, Rakibou was involved in student government and served as a Student Ambassador for the Office of the President. His senior year internship was in Upstate’s Cancer Research Center.

Rakibou也是Nerdy Operations的联合创始人兼首席执行官, a social enterprise whose goal is to deliver STEM education to young people in sub-Saharan Africa. He obtained an MBA degree from Babson College and is currently a consultant with Converge Consulting, a business consulting firm exclusively serving the life sciences industry.

Danielle Safaty chose Upstate’s Medical Biotechnology program for personal and professional reasons.

“我习惯了小环境，这就是我选择上州的原因,” said Danielle, who earned an associate’s degree from Suffolk County Community College. “这是亲密的，我们的班级是紧密相连的. It’s comforting to have the same group of people with you every day.”

Danielle’s interests lie in the medical applications of clinical laboratory science. Her education in the Medical Biotechnology program provided a solid foundation for her current educational pursuit of a Master of Science degree in the Physician Assistant Studies program at Marist College.

“Here we’re learning the clinical applications to what we’re studying,” she said. “I see it as a pre-med track. It’s challenging material, but I love absorbing new information. 我喜欢学习和接受挑战. It keeps us on our toes.”

Danielle said the faculty in Upstate’s Biotech program is “with us every step of the way. It’s very comforting. They’re extraordinary. 他们希望我们所有人都成功. This is what they do. 他们不是在其他地方做兼职的研究人员. I’ve never experienced a setting where the professors care so much about the students.

“我喜欢做研究，喜欢在实验室里工作，”她说. Danielle said she enjoys research but also likes being on the front lines of clinical care. She became a certified basic Emergency Medical Technician this year.

“There’s something really exciting about pre-hospital care,” Danielle said. “You’re the patients’ lifeline and what you do determines whether they survive.”

在获得医学生物技术学士学位后, James Bowen has followed a career path in an area that he is very passionate about: basic science research with a specialization in immunology.

James spent two years as a Laboratory Technician III at the University of Rochester Medical Center, working with a research team to advance the study of hematologic disease, 骨髓移植和输血医学.

“上州为我提供了研究经验, laboratory skills, and a breadth of knowledge that has allowed me to hit the ground running and excel at my current position,詹姆斯在罗切斯特说.  

詹姆斯继续攻读免疫学博士学位 & 亚特兰大埃默里大学的分子发病机制. “Upstate's program has prepared me very well for this daunting task,” he said.

His research at Emory focused on the role of dendritic cells and RIG-I like receptors (RLRs) in mediating protection during viral infections such as the West Nile virus.

He is currently a Post-doctoral fellow at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

As a senior at Upstate, James spent much of his last semester working at his clinical placement site, 罗切斯特骨科临床诊断. Guaranteed internship placements for Medical Biotechnology students give Upstate students a major advantage.

“There are opportunities for clinical placements at prominent laboratories,” James said. “Students seek out the kind of company and location they're interested in, 学校会做出安排.”