Be Brave; Take Chances: Video Transcript

Christine Hajdin (BS Biochemistry, Miami, 2008) [investigator at Novartis in the CADD (Computer-Assisted Drug Design) group]: I became interested in my major because I was always really interested in science and mathematics, and biochemistry was in the methodology for being able to apply both in a more direct, applied manner. Biochemistry also combined two of my favorite subjects, biology and chemistry, so it was kind of a neat balance between a bunch of things I really enjoyed.

My degree in biochemistry from Miami helped prepare me for both my graduate school work and the work I'm currently doing today by providing me with a really excellent foundation. They provided me all of the core skill sets and core knowledge that I would need to prepare myself for the rest of my scientific career.

Some of my fondest memories at Miami actually come from my undergraduate research and learning how to pipette for the first time and it being an absolute disaster. And also learning how to do different kinetic experiments and having my graduate research adviser at that time singing a little song along the way to remember all the different steps and remembering to mix everything thoroughly. It allowed me to really get excited about science very early on in my career and to really enjoy the scientific process from beginning to end. It also helped me to kind of build a community of different scientific advisers and the ability to kind of talk about science in a more useful fashion.

My advice for other Miami students as they move forward in their career is to be brave and to take chances. I think that there are a lot of career opportunities for biochem majors that come out of Miami. Some of them are in the pharmacology industry, but you can also go into formulations or different material sciences. You could also use it for different medical professions as well, so working for a hospital or working for a government agency.

[April 2017]