When interviewing potential team members, employers often look for work experience related to a student's field of study. Internships and fellowships are good ways for students to gain valuable experience to become top candidates for recruiters. During the Spring 2022 semester, SymBiosis Capital Management, located in Bentonville, selected three biomedical engineering Ph.D. candidates to participate in its Venture Fellows program.

Christofer Baldwin, Allie Ivy and April Jules each took part in this real-world experience, using their classroom and laboratory knowledge to support investments in biopharmaceutical companies. These include treatments and cures for serious and life-threatening human diseases; advanced therapeutic modalities like cell therapy, gene therapy, gene editing or precision medicine; high resolution bioanalytics, such as next generation sequencing; and high yield biomanufacturing.

When asked what attracted him to the opportunity, Baldwin answered, "I've always been interested in translating academic research into relevant products."

Ivy added: "The Venture Fellow position seemed like the perfect experience to see how new science makes it to the clinic."

Responding to how the fellowship aligns with her professional goals, Jules stated, "The work has helped me to broaden my scope of therapies and therapeutic modalities used to treat human diseases."

Ivy continued, "The internship has helped me to see a different world of science and has helped me answer pivotal questions about what I want to do with my life."

Chidozie Ugwumba, managing partner of SymBiosis Capital Management, said the company is continuing to grow a world-class, interdisciplinary team in Northwest Arkansas to invest in innovative medicines.

"Chris, Allie and April have each made meaningful contributions while gaining insights that will serve them throughout their careers. They, and future cohorts of Venture Fellows, are core to our long-term strategy to build biotechnology capacity in the region," he said.

Raj Rao, professor and department head of biomedical engineering, said that preparing students to use the knowledge they gain through lectures and lab work is an important part of their training.

"By assisting them in preparing applications, writing letters of reference or connecting them to internship and fellowship opportunities, we enable our students to move forward into the workforce better prepared for what to expect," he said.

About the U of A Biomedical Engineering: The Department of Biomedical Engineering has established itself as one of the premier research departments on campus that is committed to training undergraduate and graduate students to become leaders in the field of biomedical engineering. More information can be found at biomedical-engineering.uark.edu.