Why You Should Hire a Mouse Scientist?

As a mouse Alzheimer’s Disease expert, I always knew my doctoral research experience wasn’t going to neatly translate to most industry job descriptions. None of the lab techniques and protocols I mastered, weeks of troubleshooting experiments, and the arduous manuscripts I wrote would map directly to regulatory affairs, medical writing or to a consulting desk. But I trusted my education and expertise for developing me into a professional problem solver and communicator under pressure. And those are the skills ultimately make us valuable peers in the wide realm of biomedical industry, whether it is in medical writing and communications, R&D, consulting and market analysis, or regulatory affairs.

The transition from academia to industry is a bittersweet one. It means letting go of being an “expert” in a niche field. Not many people talk about the identity shift us fresh PhDs go through. At first, the shift out of academia felt overwhelming and I wanted to run back to familiar territory. In academia, I spent years identifying as “a scientist” and I had a clear role; I ran experiments, analyzed data, and wrote manuscripts with the aspirations of pushing the field forward, inch by inch. In industry, I had to re-define myself; was I a researcher, a communicator, or a strategist? Many of us enter academia with deeply altruistic goals, and this shift was exceptionally difficult and at times felt like a betrayal of our original purpose.

With time, I began to see that redefining my role didn’t mean leaving this passion and idealist scientist behind. It meant reshaping and expanding it. In industry, I could apply the same skills that carried me through Alzheimer’s disease research and aim them in reaching real patients, whether it is through designing better products, guiding policy or improving clear medical communications. Embracing this identity made me realize I was building on what I had. Industry also means moving faster and prioritizing practical outcomes over at length and perfect experiments. That shift can be liberating.

One of the biggest obstacles came from networking. I’ll admit, as a scientist, networking sounded like a corporate cliché. But as soon as I started reaching out to people in industry and using the connections I made in academia, I discovered how important it was to put a human connection forward. Those informal phone calls didn’t always land me interviews, but they gave me perspective. Learning how others with similar backgrounds landed where they are shaped how I might fit into different business cultures. And what surprised me most was how open people were to share about their journeys. They didn’t sugarcoat their testing experiences, and they were also honest about their resilience and fulfillment along the way.

For a fresh PhD entering industry, the transition from lab bench to industry desk can feel daunting. It’s easy to wonder if all those years of pipetting was pointless. But I believe that we are entering a workforce that is hungry for our skills. The biomedical industry needs critical thinkers, effective troubleshooters, and compelling communicators. Maybe this time I won’t be spending my days with mice with Alzheimer’s Disease. But I will take my curiosity and passion that defined my years in Alzheimer’s research and apply it to reach real patients, real product and make real impact. That is the ultimate goal and makes all the pipetting worth it.

Bio: Ilayda Ozsan McMillan, PhD, is a neuroscientist passionate about advancing biomedical research and making science more accessible to patients. She earned her Doctorate in Medical Sciences with a concentration in Neuroscience from the University of South Florida, where she studied Alzheimer’s disease mechanisms, and a BA from Northwestern University. She now works as a Clinical Writer, dedicated to improving digital health platforms by making complex science understandable and actionable, and is open to new roles where she can continue to bridge science and healthcare.