Alum Profile: Julie Searle Vanas

For most William and Mary students with their eyes on med school, the fear of not getting accepted is enough to inspire nightmares. It's hard to imagine a future that wouldn't include everything going according to plan. Eight years ago, Julie Searle Vanas was one of those students who had no idea what to do after graduation when her Plan A, medical school, didn't pan out. Now, Searle Vanas, '98, a Senior Clinical Research Associate at Human Genome Sciences, Inc, wants other W&M students to know that there are plenty of other, exciting careers out there for the medically inclined.

We're all aware that the pharmaceutical market is booming, new drugs and new research programs are making the rounds through the media all the time. However, as Searle Vanas is quick to attest, the industry isn't as simple as the media can make it sound. She works with the business side of the pharmaceutical research, connecting the researchers to the doctors' offices who run the trials and negotiating the drug's success with physicians and manufactures; the meetings, budgets, and timelines. "Yes, I'm a business woman," Searle Vana said, "But the science behind everything is what makes my job interesting." Her current projects are with protein and antibody drugs derived from genomics research. Her biology background provides her with valuable skills, because "In this job, you need some who can follow what the scientists are saying," she said.

She fell into the industry after graduation, when a friend with a human resources job called to say that her firm, a Contact Research Organization, that manages the large-scale clinical trials, was hiring recent graduates with biology degrees. She got hired as a drug-trial monitor, reviewing the medical charts and data at a variety of doctors' offices. She described it as a great entry level job for people with a science background. "The CROs have excellent training programs," Searle Vanas said, "You won't want to work there forever, but it'll prepare you to find new places to work." She worked there for a few years, and has been moving her way up ever since.

Searle Vanas describes the pharmaceutical industry as being full of opportunities for graduates of undergraduate biology programs. "It's just a huge field," she said, referring specifically to the big clinical trials. "I know I'll never need to worry about having a job; this industry will never dry up, there will always be a demand for newer and better drugs."

She advised students who are unsure about what type of career they'd enjoy to consider not only their first interest (biology), but also their second - in her case, business. By targeting the intersection between her interests, she found a job she really enjoys. Searle Vanas also credits her William and Mary education as playing a big role in her success. "I gave professors' names as recommendations," she said, "and they gave me the great reviews that helped me get that first job." Just one more way you can count on your William and Mary education to get you set up for success, even if it's not exactly how you originally pictured it!