On July 25, the PCI Fellows Program had the privilege of welcoming Dr. Rosa María Álvarez, PhD as a guest speaker. Rosa was a PCI fellow as part of the FY2013 cohort, and graduated from Penn with a doctorate in Bioengineering in 2016. She also received an SB in Biological Engineering and an SB in Biology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. For the past six years, Rosa has worked at Deloitte as a Manager in Deloitte’s Life Sciences Strategy practice.
While speaking to PCI’s current Fellows cohort, Rosa explained how in addition to her lab work at Penn, the PCI Fellows program helped her gain valuable experience for her career at Deloitte by exposing her to key aspects of technology commercialization. She also explained how her participation in the Penn Biotech Group (PBG) Healthcare Consulting was very helpful in preparing for the role.
When it comes to finding a role in life sciences consulting, Rosa recommended diligently preparing for interviews and networking with both undergraduate and graduate networks. Rosa also shared about her day to day work, which is focused on helping pharmaceutical companies drive transformative growth and innovation around customer needs.
“Coming from a Life Sciences background has definitely helped me identify trends and details in my industry that others might not notice,” Rosa said. “Working in the lab definitely helped prepare me.”
To learn more about the PCI Fellows Program and the rich network of PCI Fellows Alumni, read here.