Professional Development Symposium

In her keynote address, Nationally Certified Counselor Melanie Sinche will share strategies for landing jobs for advanced degree candidates and discuss how scientists can expand their professional skills beyond the bench. This talk is open to all VT students, faculty, and staff, and does not require pre-registration.

Melanie’s talk will be followed by professional development workshops designed for scientists to cultivate skills necessary for success in the lab and beyond and prepare trainees for diverse career paths. Advanced registration required. Open to all VT trainees and faculty.

Register Here

For questions contact RoanokeGSA@gmail.com

Keynote Speaker: Melanie Sinche,NCC
Melanie’s keynote address will share strategies for landing jobs for advanced degree candidates.

Workshops:

Alyssa Rametta, MA
Assistant Director, Career and Professional Development at Virginia Tech
“Communicate your brand in a job search”
CV and Resume Writing Workshop

Mary G. Miller, PhD
Director, Regional Accelerator and Mentoring Program
“Learn to Lead”
Leadership Workshop

Melanie V. Sinche, NCC
Director of the Career Development Center and Executive Director of the Women’s Leadership Center at the University of Saint Joseph
Communication, Leadership, and Team Management Workshop

Michael A. Fox, PhD
Associate Professor, Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC
Director, Developmental and Translational Neurobiology Center at FBRI
“Too much to do, not enough time!”
Time Management for Scientists Workshop

Advanced registration required. Open to all VT trainees and faculty
Register Here

SPEAKER BIO’S:
Melanie V. Sinche, NCC
Melanie Sinche currently serves as the Director of the Career Development Center and Executive Director of the Women’s Leadership Center at the University of Saint Joseph in West Hartford, Connecticut, where she works with university undergraduate and graduate students to achieve their career goals. Prior to joining Saint Joseph, she served as Director of Education at The Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine in Farmington, CT, developing programs for undergraduates, graduate students, and postdoctoral scholars in genomic education and assisting scientists with career transitions. Melanie is the author of Next Gen PhD: A Guide to Career Paths in Science, published by Harvard University Press in August 2016. While working on Next Gen PhD, she served as a Senior Research Associate in the Labor and Worklife Program at the Harvard Law School, where she conducted survey research on careers for PhDs in science. She was also the Founding Director of the FAS Office of Postdoctoral Affairs at Harvard University, held the same position at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and served as a consultant to the National Institutes of Health in building the first NIH Career Center for over 9,000 intramural trainees. Melanie received her Bachelor’s degree from Colgate University, and graduate degrees from the University of Michigan and North Carolina State University. She is a National Certified Counselor with a career development focus.

Alyssa Rametta, MA
Alyssa Rametta joined the Career and Professional Development team in July 2018. Previous to her role at Virginia Tech, she has enjoyed serving as an intern and graduate assistant in career centers at UConn, Boston College, and Northeastern University. Alyssa is eager to work closely with graduate students at Virginia Tech in their career planning and development, both in industry and in academia.

Mary G. Miller, PhD
Mary Miller Mary Miller is the director of the Regional Accelerator and Mentoring Program [RAMP], which identifies early stage STEM companies and provides resources to accelerate their growth from across Region 2. RAMP is a joint effort of the Roanoke Blacksburg Technology Council, the City of Roanoke and Virginia Western Community College. Currently, RAMP is evaluating applications for the third cohort, which will begin on May 15th. Before becoming the director, Mary was the founder and president of Interactive Design and Development, Inc. (IDD), an information technology firm in Blacksburg, Virginia. Under her 29 years of leadership and guidance, the company developed information technology solutions for Fortune 500 companies, the Defense Intelligence Agency, the Library of Congress, and the Smithsonian. Dr. Miller received her Master’s in Information Sciences (MIS) and her Ph.D. in Instructional Design from Virginia Tech. She was recognized at the 75th Anniversary of Women at Virginia Tech as an outstanding woman alumna and was named the 2013 Outstanding Alumni for Virginia Tech’s College of Engineering. Dr. Miller has served on many boards and advisory committees, including Virginia Tech’s College of Engineering Committee of 100. She was a founding member and past president of the Roanoke-Blacksburg Technology Council (RBTC), and served for six years on Virginia’s Information Technology Investment Board. Additionally, she was a member of the Supply Diversity Advisory Board tasked by former Governor McDonnell to revamp and revitalize the Commonwealth’s small, women-owned and minority owned business procurement programs. Currently she serves as chair of the Virginia 4-H Foundation Board and is a member of the National Bankshares Board of Directors.

Michael A. Fox, PhD
Michael Fox is a developmental neurobiologist whose laboratory is interested in understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms that drive the assembly of neural circuits in the developing brain. He joined the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC as an associate professor in 2012 and is currently the director of the institute’s Center for Neurobiology Research. In addition, Dr. Fox is also an associate professor of biological sciences at Virginia Tech’s College of Science, an associate professor of pediatrics at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine, and director of the NIH-funded FBRI Translational Neurobiology Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (neuroSURF). Before joining Virginia Tech, Dr. Fox was an assistant professor in the department of anatomy and neurobiology at the Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Campus. He began his undergraduate career at the United States Military Academy at West Point and after transferring received his bachelor’s degree in chemistry from The College of William and Mary. Dr. Fox earned his doctoral degree from Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center and then completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the laboratory of Dr. Joshua R. Sanes at Harvard University’s department of molecular and cellular biology. Dr. Fox’s research is funded by several NIH grants and his lab’s scientific contributions have been published in 48 peer-reviewed journal articles. Dr. Fox has earned multiple awards for his research, including the International Society for Neurochemistry’s Young Scientist Lectureship, and the American Society for Neurochemistry’s Jordi Folch-Pi and Marian Kies Awards. In addition to his research and commitment to mentoring and teaching, Dr. Fox has served in a number of leadership positions beyond Virginia Tech, including for the American Society for Neurochemistry and the Society for Neuroscience.