Brooke Roberts, a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences, has worked her way up in the BioBiz club: from member to secretary to president. In Roberts’ — and BioBiz’s — first year at Boston University, she joined the organization to combine her neuroscience major and business administration minor into one.
“It was one of the organizations that stood out to me,” Roberts said. “It does feel like I’ve been a part of it from the beginning, even though I wasn’t a part of the founding process.”
BioBiz, founded in the summer of 2020, is a student organization that aims to be an interdisciplinary community for students that are interested in both biology and business.
“Our mission at BioBiz … is to build a community for students who are passionate about topics like biotechnology, entrepreneurship, medicine, business and just to have the opportunity for our members to network and explore biotechnology [and] pharmaceutical fields,” Roberts said.
Members have the opportunity to receive mentorship and guidance from leading industry professionals, visit companies doing work with biology and business and receive MCAT assistance through the club’s partnership with the Princeton Review, according to Roberts.
Roberts said she wants to go into the biotechnology field after medical school, and said she hopes to one day own her own biotechnology company.
Like Roberts, BioBiz Treasurer Sofía Sherman, a junior in CAS, said although she wants to become a doctor, biotechnology interests her as well.
“The club really provides [members] with a lot of resources and insights into a whole lot of fields,” Sherman said.
Even though she has only been a member of BioBiz for the past year, Sherman said that the club “has a lot to offer” from internships to networking.
“[BioBiz] fosters a sense of community, and you can actually get to know who are older than you, upperclassmen, and ask questions, connect with them,” Sherman said. “There’s a very nice support system.”
BioBiz member Kimhun Tuntikawinwong, a sophomore in CAS, said he wants to be a researcher when he graduates and said BioBiz allows him to meet other students with the same interests as him.
“After I joined, I feel like it [isn’t] only to meet the people, I think it is also contributing to my career path,” said Tuntikawinwong. “I have more connections with people in the same interest.”
Tuntikawinwong said one of his favorite events that he participated in was the club’s LinkedIn workshop, where members were able to network and share tips. He said that one thing he made sure to do was to make his LinkedIn bio stronger with a “punch line.”
Roberts said this semester, the club will host a workshop on getting into medical school, as well as other opportunities like speaker events.
“We enlist senior advisors and pharmaceutical slash tech companies to come and talk to our members and tell them a little bit about how they got to the position that they’re in, how our students and our members can do the same and giving them tips and tricks of what career choices they should make,” Roberts said.
Roberts said that it has been “amazing” to see how the club has grown over the years from when she was just a member to now leading the organization.
“Throughout the years, we have definitely built stronger partnerships with companies and just people who are willing to help and strengthen our members.”
