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Bristol Myers Squibb’s (BMS) Research and Development site in the San Francisco’s Mission District is home to early clinical development, medical and clinical scientist teams focused on hematology, oncology and cell therapy early-phase trials. These teams lead early clinical development programs for a wide range of treatment modalities like CAR T cells, T-cell engagers, monoclonal antibodies and small molecules. Their work plays an instrumental role in unveiling the next wave of drug discovery in fighting life-threatening diseases.
But perhaps just as important as the vast pool of scientific talent at BMS is the diverse backgrounds from which these scientists come and the array of experiences they bring to their work.
“Our site here in San Francisco not only has a diverse workforce, but also feels diverse in terms of function and experience, like the city itself,” says Chetana Rao, Ph.D., the head of Site Strategy and Operations for both of BMS’ Redwood City and San Francisco sites who also leads BMS’ local efforts in STEM education. “It’s a big company with tremendous resources and a wide range of personalities and perspectives, but it maintains the communal feel of a smaller one.”
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Bristol Myers Squibb is shaping the future of medicine—and its workforce—through STEM initiatives
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ow more than ever, it’s vital that the best and brightest minds from all backgrounds and disciplines come together to drive advances in
medicine. And the Bay Area, world-renowned as both a cultural melting pot and a hub of technological innovation, is a natural place for that type of collaboration to take root.
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Growing up as a woman of color, I’m determined for future generations to see more representation in this field ...
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— Chetana Rao, Ph.D
head of Site Strategy and Operations, BRISTOL MYERS SQUIBB Redwood City and San Francisco
In addition to breaking new ground in drug discovery, BMS is also inspiring the next generation of scientists and researchers from all walks of life through activities designed to support science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. By investing in students throughout their academic journeys, BMS is helping to cultivate a new crop of local scientists at its sites in Redwood City, San Francisco and Brisbane that will allow the Bay Area BMS sites to ensure continued scientific development and innovation for decades to come.
“As someone who took an interest in STEM when I was younger, I was fortunate to benefit from what few resources existed in a highly competitive field,” said Mehnaz Malek, Sr. Scientist, Oncogenesis Translational Research. “Today, it feels good to give back to the community through our partnerships that help provide opportunities for young people interested in pursuing their passion for science, but still struggle to find the right mentorship and resources.”
In 2020 alone, the Bay Area sites supported more than a dozen STEM education initiatives from elementary to graduate school. For example, to foster a budding interest in young scientists throughout the region, BMS helped launch a Calculus Roundtable (CR) of classes and workshops to introduce science and math to students from historically excluded communities. Last year, CR was conducted in 46 schools, including Nystrom Elementary in Richmond, where math and overall test scores rose while the suspension rate in African American students continued to decline. The program has been honored with a Special Congressional Recognition Award for "Bringing STEM Education to Communities of Color."
“Growing up as a woman of color, I’m determined for future generations to see more representation in this field,” says Rao.
Rao’s vision, alongside that of other leaders at BMS, is helping to spearhead opportunities in STEM throughout the Bay Area. In 2020, the Bay Area BMS sites supported the San Francisco State University College of Science and Engineering’s Black Excellence (BE-STEM) program, which awarded scholarships to two MS scholars and one BS scholar in Cell & Molecular Biology. The scholars were accepted into top-ranked biomedical science Ph.D. programs.
This summer, BMS piloted an internship program with eight local students from underrepresented backgrounds, six of whom are graduates of other STEM programs BMS has supported earlier in their schooling. Over eight weeks, the interns were able to learn from and network with some of the industry’s brightest scientists and executives, gain hands-on experience working in the lab, and present data obtained from their research to BMS leadership. They even took a once-in-a-lifetime backpacking trip in the Sierra Nevada Mountains with San Francisco site leader Kristen Hege.
“The trip was truly an eye-opening experience for me,” says Hege. “I got to spend time with a diverse array of first generation American young women, with backgrounds from Palestine, India, Mexico and Colombia.”
Programs like these are essential to ensuring that the future STEM workforce, who will be responsible for creating the next wave of innovative medicines, accurately represents the diverse backgrounds and experiences of the patients those medicines are designed to help. BMS understands that global diversity and inclusion is paramount to the future of lasting medical and scientific breakthroughs.
Those who work at the two dynamic BMS facilities in the Bay Area help promote diversity through People & Business Resource Groups (PBRGs), volunteer organizations that focus on a single dimension of diversity. For instance, the BMS Network of Women (B-NOW), which advocates for the career advancement of women in Redwood City, has organized career development tools and trainings, including a seminar series and HBA webinar series to help women develop their career paths in the community.
In addition, BMS is home to the PRIDE Alliance, a group that works with the LGBTQ+ community both in and outside Bay Area facilities to enhance each company’s performance as an employer that empowers LGBTQ+ inclusion and awareness. PRIDE also organizes fundraisers that support the LGBTQ+ youth. And BMS has created a robust network of PBRGs that support employees from all walks of life, such as The Pan Asian Network (PAN) and the Organization for Latino Achievement (OLA), which focus on career and talent development within the Asian and Latino communities, respectively.
“Historically, the Latino community has been underrepresented in the scientific community,” said Roxxana Beltran, Senior Associate Scientist at the Oncogenesis Thematic Research Center. “It feels good to come to work and feel surrounded by my community. It’s important to show future generations of Latino youth that they have a space in this field.”
While BMS’ efforts to promote diversity have yielded significant progress, the company is far from content. From the leadership down, BMS will continue its unwavering commitment to diversity and inclusion in the workplace, not only because it’s the right thing to do, but also because it’s in the best interest of people living with serious illnesses to have people who represent them working on the research.
To learn more about opportunities at Bristol Myers Squibb, click here.