Alumni Reflections

Stanford Biosciences alumni look back on how their PhD training led them to become the difference-makers they are today.

• "At Stanford, I learned to ask important scientific questions and to answer them rigorously through research. I also learned that science matters. It tackles questions of fundamental relevance to human well-being, natural ecosystems, and global economies. Stanford showed me the science-policy interface, and that is where I am making my career."

  —Katherine Mach, PhD '10

• "Stanford gave me many opportunities to explore different paths to my goals. Taking the Entrepreneurial Design for Extreme Affordability class at the d.school [Institute of Design], I had the opportunity to work with the Prosthetic Orthotic Center in Ethiopia. My team built a low-cost knee for above-knee amputees and tested the design with local users. Watching someone walk on our knee was one of the most rewarding experiences of my career. This experience inspired me to seek out more opportunities to work on user-focused technology development, both in grad school and after."

  —Rachel Kalmar, Neuroscience PhD '10

• "Stanford helped to instill a culture of strong research values in me. It was always very important to think carefully about research and experiments; what was the question you were answering? Why is it important? Is it the best question you could be asking? Will the experiment/analysis you perform clearly answer the question?"

  —Rory Sayers, Neuroscience PhD '07