Nate Smith completed his PhD in the lab of Dr. Jane Taylor in the Yale University Department of Psychiatry, where his thesis work focused on the molecular mechanisms underlying decision-making. During his time at Yale, he also worked as an intern with the Office of Collaborative Research (OCR) and was involved with the Yale Graduate Consulting Club (YGCC). After graduation, he took a position with CBPartners, a boutique biopharmaceutical consulting firm. He has spent the past two years with this firm, working on projects that involve economic modeling for various pre-launch health-related assets. Soon he will transition to Nomura Securities where he will work as a biotech equity research associate.
1. What did you study as a PhD student?
I was in the Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program, where I worked in the lab of Jane Taylor investigating the molecular mechanisms underlying decision-making in rats. I did a mixture of behavioral testing, pharmacology, and computational modelling.
2. When you started graduate school, did you know what you wanted to do after graduation?
I definitely thought I wanted to go down the academic research track when I started.
3. How did your career goals change/evolve over the course of graduate school?
Over time, I learned that, although I am passionate about scientific discovery, I was not as passionate about the bench work itself. I found myself wanting to work in an industry that was close to or required scientific thinking, but was separate from the research itself. I explored a few options to help me figure out my best path, including patent law, consulting, and equity research.
4. Were you involved in any organizations or activities at Yale that helped you prepare for your current career path?
I worked as an intern with the Office of Collaborative Research, which gave me some insight into the commercialization of pre-clinical assets. I also got involved with the Yale Graduate Consulting Club.
5. What do you do now?
I actually am in the midst of a bit of a career shift. For the past nearly two years I have been working at CBPartners, a boutique biopharma consulting firm. While there, I worked on health economic modelling engagements on a number of different pre-launch assets. I will shortly start as a biotech equity research associate at Nomura Securities.
6. What is a typical workday like for you?
As a consultant, my day normally started around 8:30am, responding to any client emails that came through overnight, planning mine and my team’s workstreams for the upcoming day. Typically, I would work on a number of different projects, managing about 2-3 analysts across projects. Throughout the day, I would have client calls which could shake things up - a quiet day would result in me leaving the office around 7pm, while a busy day reacting to a last-minute client request could keep me at the office until 9pm.
7. Which skills (technical or otherwise) that you developed during graduate school are most helpful to you in your current position?
While the quantitative work I did in my PhD definitely did help a lot, in consulting it’s generally more the softer skills that help you. During grad school, you learn how to frame a problem, develop testable hypotheses, collect data, and develop conclusions based on your research. The same process really applies to consulting as well; being able to think through a problem and develop testable hypotheses drives the end deliverables. Beyond that component, it helps to be able to think on your feet and communicate complicated concepts on both a detailed, technical level and a conceptual level.
8. Are there any skills/tools/habits that you need in your field but didn’t develop during your grad school training?
Learning how to manage teams and clients is something you don’t develop as much in grad school; however, normally this is something your employer can help you with during your career development. In addition, some of the hard skills (rapid Powerpoint, Excel skills) are things I picked up on the job as well.
9. Where do you see your career going from here?
I definitely want to stay close to pharma, likely staying on the finance side of things moving forward. The one thing I have learned the past several years is that it’s okay to not have your whole life planned ahead of you! Your plans will change as you learn about new possibilities, and that’s part of the excitement of your career.
10. Any words of wisdom for a biomedical PhD student who may be considering a future career similar to yours?
Talk to as many people as you can - leverage your network. Not only will it help expose you to careers that you are considering, but it will also get your foot in the door at these companies should you decide to apply after speaking with them. Most people are willing to help you out and happy to speak with you!