Member SpotlightsFusing Scientific Talent with Business Acumen Alex Chang, Ph.D. A Member Since March 2002  Back in high school, Dr. Alex Chang became interested in stem cell biology and enjoyed reading the original research of Dr. William French Anderson and other pioneers. His comprehension of these complex papers and his fascination with how research can be applied to alleviating disease motivated him to consider a career in science. He attended Rutgers College where he earned a Bachelors of Arts in biochemistry. After taking time off to help repay his student loans as an assistant scientist at Hoffman-LaRoche, he earned his Ph.D. from Mount Sinai School of Medicine – NYU (New York). While at Hoffman-LaRoche Dr. Chang worked in the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) Department and gained valuable laboratory experience, which helped him succeed in graduate school. Not only did he become familiar with innovative laboratory techniques, he also developed strong problem solving skills due to the solution-orientated focus of his industrial position. His primary job responsibility was to assist in the manufacturing and process development of PCR-grade reagents. The PCR Department is responsible for developing assays used in diagnostic kits for identifying such infectious diseases as HIV, HCV, HBV, chlamydia and tuberculosis. At Mount Sinai, Dr. Chang’s completed his doctoral thesis on “An Analysis of the Protein-Protein Interaction Between Rsp5 and RNA Polymerase II.” His project focused on studying the WW domain, a small modular domain, similar to SH3 domains. In addition to its role in helping regulate normal cellular pathways, such as ubiquitin-mediated protein degradation, proteins containing WW domains are implicated in human diseases such as Alzheimer's Disease, breast cancer, Huntington's Disease, muscular dystrophy, and Liddle's Syndrome. Dr. Chang studied protein-protein interactions using a variety of biochemical techniques including protein and peptide arrays. His work, along with others in the lab, demonstrated that these cutting-edge technologies help predict signaling pathways. The lab continues to develop this methodology with the goal of applying it to the search for therapeutics in the aforementioned diseases. His exposure to leading scientists from around the world while at Mount Sinai honed his communication skills and gave him the confidence to talk cogently and concisely about his work at meetings and conferences. His research accomplishments, coupled with his presentation skills, earned him a highly competitive postdoctoral fellowship at the innovative biotechnology company, ImClone Systems Incorporated in 2000. He worked on a research project that evaluated a potential target for cancer therapeutics. While at the company, Dr. Chang learned a valuable lesson that despite scientific excellence, good ideas can fail because of circumstances beyond one’s control. Often in the biotech industry these circumstances are dictated by business-related outcomes. After completing his two-year fellowship, Dr. Chang accepted an industrial position as a Field Scientist at Ciphergen Biosystems Incorporated. His job responsibilities included assisting customers in their research projects, presenting feasibility studies to potential customers, and directing training in mass spectrometry (MS). Major activities consisted of demonstrating the ease of using SELDI-MS to identify potential biomarkers from a variety of diseases and disorders, using samples of varying complexity such as urine, serum and cerebral spinal fluid. Dr. Chang enjoyed the variety of his work and came into contact with people from diagnostic labs, academia, hospitals, companies developing diagnostics and pharmaceutical companies. Unfortunately because of restructuring, he lost his position at Ciphergen and therefore decided to investigate new career opportunities. Dr. Chang wanted to better use his communication skills to help build a career related to the business aspects of science. He felt that this career path would open up novel and rewarding job opportunities. He recently joined Kelly Scientific Resources as an Account Representative and is responsible for identifying and attracting new business with customers having scientific needs in sectors such as academia, biotechnology or biopharmaceutical, chemical, cosmetics, education, food and beverage, medical diagnostics, petrochemical, and pharmaceutical. He currently manages an account that has over 2 million dollars in sales and is thrilled to be working in an industry where he asserts that “my product is people.” On his free time, Dr. Chang is an avid golfer and enjoys writing fiction and nonfiction. ### << Previous Next >> [ View All Member Spotlights ] |
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