2026 SPP-ARCing Connections Outside Academia

This past Monday, May 11, SPP-ARC hosted the 3rd annual SPP-ARCing Connections Outside Academia at the Lister Centre. The event brings together representatives from pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to speak with students and trainees about career opportunities available to them outside academia, and what these roles look like in practice. The program also creates space for networking and connections between academia and industry.

Our keynote speaker this year was David Wishart, PhD, Distinguished University Professor, who has been involved in the creation of more than 10 spinoff companies. His presentation gave attendees insight into the realities of working outside academia and what to expect when starting out. According to recent PhD graduate Afroza Ferdouse, he “delivered a top-notch talk without sugarcoating or downplaying. It focused on real-world planning scenarios for academics transitioning into industry.” Somnath Gupta, Scientist at Entos Pharmaceuticals, also delivered a presentation on his journey from “bench to biotech”.

David Wishart fields questions from the audience. Moderated by SPP-ARC director Matthias Götte.

Neil Sulakhe, Director of Innovation Discovery and Collaboration Programs at the Government of Alberta, was also present and spoke about the importance of providing trainees with the tools and spaces they need to support their careers, network, and connect with others.

Neil Sulakhe.

Over 10 biomedical and pharmaceutical companies attended the event including Gilead Sciences, Fischer Scientific, GSK and Applied Pharmaceutical Industries. For Elaine Navalta and Elisa Garcia Carvajal, representatives from VWR,  “ it was amazing meeting so many new faces and so many people with different backgrounds. It was really nice to kind of share our experience, because our backgrounds are so different and our paths are so different and we ended up doing the same thing so it was really interesting to share that with students.

Elaine Navalta and Elisa Garcia Carvajal, representatives from VWR.

SPP-ARCing Connections continues to provide a much-needed networking opportunity to graduate students and postdoctoral scholars with goals of careers outside academia.

Somnath Gupta speaks to the audience

An audience member asks a question.

Roundtable with trainees and representatives from API.

Roundtable with trainees and representatives from VWR.

Roundtable with trainees and representatives from GSK.

Representatives from Northern RNA.