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As a Senior Medical Science Liaison at Intra-Cellular Therapies, Christopher serves as a scientific and medical resource for healthcare providers and researchers working in neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative diseases.
In this role, he:
Engages with healthcare providers and researchers to understand unmet needs across different disease states
Serves as a medical and scientific resource within his company’s therapeutic area
Attends conferences and symposia to stay connected to the latest research
Gives scientific presentations
Builds relationships with clinicians and scientists across several states
Communicates scientific and medical information related to the company’s therapies
Best part of the job:
Christopher loves connecting with people and having engaging conversations about science and medicine.
Christopher learned about the Medical Science Liaison (MSL) career after seeing postdocs from his lab transition into the field. His department also had several recent graduates who went on to become MSLs.
Through networking, he was eventually able to find a position that matched his experience.
His career path was quite direct:
PhD ➡️ Medical Science Liaison
Christopher did briefly begin a postdoc while he was interviewing for his first MSL position, but it was not part of his application and was not a traditional postdoctoral position.
Seeing people around him successfully make the transition helped Christopher recognize that his scientific background could translate directly into a career in industry.
Leaving academia was difficult for Christopher.
A faculty position had been a major goal of his, and he genuinely loved doing research. But as he looked at the realities of an academic career, the path became increasingly difficult to justify.
There were too few faculty positions relative to the number of available postdocs, and pursuing academia would require years of additional work without any guarantee of ultimately landing a faculty position.
There were also practical considerations around family, career stability, and retirement that made the academic path increasingly impractical for him.
Ultimately, Christopher decided that loving research wasn’t enough to make academia the right career for him.
He found a way to stay deeply connected to science while building a career that made more sense for his long-term life.
Communicate your accomplishments, not just your methods.
When translating your PhD experience for a non-academic audience, Christopher recommends leading with your impact and then explaining how you achieved it. Focus on what you actually completed — including outcomes, publications, presentations, and other measurable accomplishments. Use bullet points and avoid leading with techniques or methods unless they are specifically relevant to the position you’re applying for.
Use conferences to build industry connections while you’re still in graduate school.
If possible, Christopher recommends attending one or two conferences where professionals from an industry you’re interested in will be present. For example, someone interested in Medical Affairs, Sales, Clinical Development, or Marketing could attend a clinical conference where multiple companies are represented. These events provide an opportunity to make more organic, lower-pressure connections — and travel grants may help cover the cost.
Start networking early.
You don’t need to know exactly what you want to do after your PhD or postdoc before you start building relationships. Christopher recommends connecting with people early so those relationships have time to develop. A strong network can eventually lead to referrals, introductions, and connections with people who may become future colleagues.
Christopher’s story shows that leaving academia doesn’t mean giving up on science.
He loved research and originally hoped to become a faculty member. But when he looked honestly at the realities of the academic career path, he realized that it wasn’t sustainable for the life he wanted to build.
Instead, he leveraged his scientific expertise into a career where he still gets to talk about science every day, just with a different audience.
And perhaps most importantly, he didn’t wait until he had everything figured out to start networking.
The people he saw making the transition showed him what was possible, and those connections ultimately helped him find a role that fit his experience.
You don’t have to know exactly where you’re going.
But the earlier you start building relationships, the more options you’ll have when you’re ready to choose.
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