Amgen Scholars Gather in New York
Amgen Scholars hailing from programs across the globe gathered in New York this month for an alumni reunion at Columbia University. There, they got a chance to connect with one another as well as with a few incoming 2016 Amgen Scholars, program leaders and faculty mentors.
In addition, Amgen’s Executive Director of Research Margaret Chu-Moyer spoke about her personal journey and the professional path she took to her current position, telling attendees, "Follow the science; find your passion; fulfill a life of purpose."
Those words triggered a flood of inspiration for attendee Maithreyi Raman, a Scholar who participated in the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich program in 2013.
“Dr. Chu-Moyer's talk was a great reminder of why we got into the Amgen Scholars Program in the first place,” says Raman, who is now a master’s student in biotechnology at Columbia University.
Raman’s work is featured in the program’s 2013 Annual Report, and she says the program has continued to influence her academic and professional life.
Alumna Chanthia Ma was also moved by Chu-Moyer’s words and the connections she made with other Amgen Scholars. A 2014 Stanford University Amgen Scholar, Ma is a rising senior at Yale University majoring in molecular, cellular and developmental biology. She is planning to apply to MD/PhD programs.
“Hearing about Dr. Chu-Moyer's career path and the path of other Amgen Scholars — most of whom have moved onto graduate or medical school — I gained a lot more confidence in the path I plan on taking,” she says.
Also attending the event was Shahrukh Khan, who is part of the incoming 2016 cohort of Amgen Scholars. "The more alumni I talk to, the more excited I am to start the program," says Khan, who will conduct research at the National Institutes of Health. "The alumni I spoke to emphasized the robust mentorship and fascinating research they were engaged in. After this event, I am confident that the Amgen Scholars Program will mold me into a better student scientist, and give me the tools I need to embark on a career in research and medicine."
Check out the slideshow highlights of this event. This is the fourth Amgen Scholars alumni gathering the Program has hosted. So far, they have been held in Los Angeles, Palo Alto, and Boston. Future events are in the works, so stay tuned.
----------------
To learn more about the Amgen Scholars Program, please visit our website and check out the #AmgenScholars hashtag on Twitter. Visit AmgenInspires.com and follow @AmgenFoundation to stay up to date with all STEM-related news from the Amgen Foundation.
