As a Ladd intern this summer, Shelby Sullivan ’15 contributed to the exacting work of drug development at Lexington, Mass.-based Cubist Pharmaceuticals, where Mike Bonney ’80 is CEO. Along the way, she discovered a work culture not unlike ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½’ own.

Name: Shelby Sullivan ’15

Hometown: Amesbury, Mass.

Major: Biology and English with a German language concentration

Internship Sponsor: The college’s Ladd Internship Program offers ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½-funded summer internships with for-profit and nonprofit businesses that often feature alumni networking opportunities.

Biology and English major Shelby Sullivan ’15 worked at Cubist Pharmaceuticals, based in Lexington, Mass., as a Ladd intern. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

1. What is your job?

I am an intern in clinical trial documentation, and I’ve been writing some of the appendices for two clinical study reports for Cubist drugs now in Phase 3 of their clinical trials. It’s taken up my whole summer, which is why they wanted an intern!

I’ve also created graphs and visuals to be part of the information being collected for the clinical studies.

2. What did you want from this internship?

Originally I was looking for an internship in a lab. But working in clinical trial documentation, at the very end of the drug-discovery process, means that I’ve learned the entire journey a drug takes from discovery to FDA inspection. It’s a big learning experience, about the industry itself as well as the hands-on biology and pharmaceutics.

3. Why did you pursue the Cubist internship?

The company was described as innovative and bold, and I thought that was cool. The company culture is welcoming, and everyone is extremely intelligent. The CSO [Chief Scientific Officer] says hello to me. Mike Bonney will talk to me. They don’t have an “I have no idea who that is” mentality.

It’s very much like ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½, open and welcoming, casual but professional, and the people are happy to be here.

3. Has the English major in you gotten a workout?

I didn’t think that I could incorporate biology and English, but the medical writing part of my internship has been huge. It’s a different side of English that I never thought would be useful. But the people on my team have a diverse set of college majors.

4. What has surprised you?

Without this internship, I don’t think I could ever grasp the incredible time and effort it takes to bring a drug to market.

5. What have you learned about the work world that you couldn’t have learned in a classroom?

“I always thought that my career would be in a lab doing research,” Sullivan says. “I realize now that there are so many different things I can do.” (Phyllis Graber Jensen/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

Meetings!

But I feel I’ve been opened up to the world. I’m using everything I learned in the classroom, almost physically.

This is also a good experience because I don’t think you sit in a classroom and say “I want to do this,” and then just go and do it. You have to get a feel for it in the actual environment. And I’ve gotten into the environment here. I’m thought of as part of the clinical operations team, and that’s cool.

6. How have you adjusted to real-world work?

By sticking to a schedule. I work from 7:30 to 3:30, which helps with traffic. I have to be organized, and I had to commit to not really having much of a summer.

It was relatively easy transitioning because I had so much work at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½. But you learn to balance your time: work, dinner, gym, whatever. Being at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ helps with that time management.

7. How is working in a Cubist cubicle?

Not that bad. The days go fast, and I enjoy it. You’re not stuck. Everything is going on around you; you can hear conversations, you go to meetings. Plus, it’s flexible here as long as you get your work done. I never think, “Ugh, I have to go to work.” I love it here.

8. What’s been most valuable?

I always thought that my career would be in a lab doing research. I realize now that there are so many different things I can do. I’ve been able to hear so many people talk about their niches at Cubist — clinical, discovery, finance, regulatory — and that has been a great learning opportunity.

9. Has the liberal arts perspective been valuable?

Absolutely. The interviewing process was long for this internship, and it was really helpful that ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ teaches you how to speak about your academic work and present information to a variety of people. I could go into a lab and understand what’s going on, or go into the finance department and grasp what they are discussing.

There are a lot of people who have advanced training specifically in pharmaceutics, but I don’t necessarily think they have more of an advantage. They are very specific about what they want to do and in some ways what they can do. They went to school to do that one thing, which is great for them if they know what that one thing is.

I have a sense that I can do more than one thing in a place like this.

I wanted to explore the possibility of a career in oncology, so I applied to the undergraduate clinical research program at Memorial Sloan-Kettering in New York City. For ten weeks I was involved in metastatic prostate cancer research at one of the oldest and largest cancer research facilities in the world. I wrote portions of a research article manuscript on the use of the Bone Scan Index for determining cancer progression and predicting overall survival. I also assembled and managed a PET scan database comparing different imaging procedures for detecting disease. I spent two weeks doing inpatient rounds, which was a very enlightening experience. A Ladd Internship through the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Office of Career Services provided the funds that allowed me to live in New York City. A Scher Fellowship further offset my costs.

I learned so much about the biology of cancer, but as a psychology major and pre-med student, I’m also interested in its psychological impact. That’s where my internship ties into my senior thesis: I’m analyzing data regarding distress levels and psychosocial needs of newly diagnosed cancer patients for the Patrick Dempsey Center at Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston.

The opportunity to do undergraduate research is awesome. It should give me a leg up when I apply to medical school, but it also inspired me to engage in clinical research for a few years first.

Devin Wigler’s interest in oncology began when she volunteered at in Lewiston during Short Term. She worked in the Cancer Resource Center, providing literature to patients and their families.

“I wanted to explore the possibility of a career in oncology,” Wigler said, “so I applied to the undergraduate clinical research program at . For ten weeks I was involved in metastatic prostate cancer research at one of the oldest and largest cancer research facilities in the world. I wrote portions of a research article manuscript on the use of the Bone Scan Index for determining cancer progression and predicting overall survival. I also assembled and managed a PET scan database comparing different imaging procedures for detecting disease. I spent two weeks doing inpatient rounds, which was a very enlightening experience.”

A Ladd Internship through the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Office of Career Services provided the funds that allowed her to live in New York City. A Scher Fellowship further offset her costs.

“I learned so much about the biology of cancer, but as a psychology major and pre-med student, I’m also interested in its psychological impact,” Wigler said. “That’s where my internship ties into my senior thesis: I’m analyzing data regarding distress levels and psychosocial needs of newly diagnosed cancer patients for the . I’ve found it very convenient that ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ is so close to two hospitals – Central Maine and St. Mary’s!

“The opportunity to do undergraduate research is awesome. It should give me a leg up when I apply to medical school, but it also inspired me to engage in clinical research for a few years first.”

— Virginia Wright

This year’s Ladd Internships were offered to nine juniors, three sophomores and one senior. The recipients are: Katie Burke, of Canton, Mass., a junior American cultural studies major interning at the Institute for Higher Education, Washington, D.C.; Ryan Champagne, of Saratoga Springs, N.Y., a junior art major, at the Ah Haa School for the Arts, Telluride, Colo.; Sophia DeMaio, of Westfield, a junior environmental studies major, at the Rural Community Action Ministry, Leeds; Christina Doukeris, of Saco, a sophomore biology major, at Salomon Smith Barney, Portland; Stephanie Eby, of Burlington, Mass., a graduate biology major, at the Environmental Projection Agency, Chelmsford, Mass.; Malinda Gilbert, of Bethel, a junior English major, at Beacon Hill Showrooms, Boston.

Also, Loretta Kim, of Philadelphia, a junior double-major in economics and psychology, at Marathon Capital Group, Boston; Maya Levine, of Hollis, N.H., a junior political science major, at the Environmental Projection Agency, Boston; Jenna Mullen, of New York City, a sophomore anthropology major, at Thieme Medical Publishing, New York; Nga Phan, of Hanoi, Vietnam, a junior economics major, at Banknorth, Lewiston; Ayana Sawai, of Tokyo, a junior interdisciplinary studies major, at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York City; Endri Trajani, of Cleveland, a junior double-major in economics and physics, at Per-Se Technologies, Lewiston; and Eric Ursprung, of Princeton, Mass., a sophomore political science major, at the Environmental Projection Agency, Boston.

Made possible by the George and Helen Ladd Charitable Corporation, the Ladd Internship Program was begun in 1978 by George E. Ladd Jr., a ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ benefactor interested in exposing liberal arts students to the working world. Through the program, the college and the sponsoring organization divide the cost of the salaried internships for up to four months.

This year, seven of the individual sponsors at the participating companies or institutions are ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ alumni.