Career Development Strategies E032 Science Writing PhD in the National Cancer Research Center
Dr. Nadia Holden is a cell biologist by training. In 2015, she earned her PhD from Stony Brook University, New York. She studied the role of lipid kinases in endocytosis and autophagy.
During graduate school, Nadia had a “mid-PhD crisis” when she realized she wanted to leave academia but didn’t want to leave science. Finding a lack of good career development resources for PhD students at her university, she decided to create her own. She designed a 9-step career development program for busy graduate students, called the PhD Career Ladder Program. In 2014, Nadia gave a TEDx talk called “Reimagining the PhD” to spread the idea that PhD training can no longer be viewed as a one way ticket to tenured professorship. The talk was watched over 250k times to date!
After graduating, Nadia transitioned to a career in science writing. She is currently a science writer/editor for the National Cancer Institute, where she writes about advances in all fields cancer research. She also helps create videos, graphics, and other educational materials dedicated to this topic.
