What are you currently working on?
Jenna Kitz Graduate Student PhD Candidate Contact Info jkitz@uwo.ca
“I am gearing up for my PhD thesis defense, which is scheduled for next week. The way that a thesis traditionally works is you have three published papers from your work which become your three research chapters for your thesis. I'm working on submitting my last primary research article associated with the thesis to tie up loose ends associated with the project. My research looks at circulating tumor cells (CTCs), which are cells from a primary tumor that are using the blood vessels to move throughout the body. The research focuses on how to detect them from the blood and how we can use these biomarkers for earlier diagnosis of metastasis, which ultimately is the number one leading cause of cancer related deaths. Also, I am in a full-time in a role as a medical communications writer for a Torontobased consulting company. The company works with pharmaceutical companies who are about to release drugs or have drugs in development. Specifically, we work with the companies that are in phase two clinical trials to create any scientific materials or strategic rollout plans which are associated with the launches of these drugs.”
What are some of your goals, looking forward? “Research is great, but I felt that I needed to do something different from that, for now. When I started in the lab, I was already fairly certain that I was not interested in staying in academia forever, which is the typical course for someone who's in research. As I was getting on in the degree, I was set on working with a scientific company in Toronto. For a few years I have known that I wanted to go into industry use my scientific knowledge and the many skills that we develop in grad school that are so applicable to both corporate jobs and jobs within the scientific community. There are so many uses for what we learn and I really wanted to make sure that I was in a career that utilized my skillset. So, my future goal is just to continue on the path that I am now. I don't like to close doors, so anything is possible.”
“we’re in really close proximity to patients, which provides a lot of opportunity for impactful research” 13
