Startup helps life science PhDs navigate career paths

When Dr. Gary Mouradian, an assistant professor at the Medical College of Wisconsin, began his own career in the life sciences, he had one certainty: he loved science. What he didn’t have was clarity about what to do with his PhD.

“I really wasn’t sure what I wanted to do,” he said. “I was still struggling. Do I want to stay in academia, or do I want to go into industry?”

His experience, shared by what he says is “a huge fraction” of PhD trainees, sparked the creation of Aligned Talent Network, a career-development platform aimed at helping life science PhD candidates understand, explore and prepare for career paths beyond academia.

Solving a widespread problem for trainees

According to Mouradian, many PhD students receive intensive scientific training but lack exposure to the full range of career opportunities available to them.

“Unfortunately, it’s quite common that you will run into a trainee and you will ask them, ‘So what do you want to do when you’re done?’ They don’t know,” he said. “There are so many different career paths and ways to use a PhD.”

Universities often offer seminars or resume workshops, but he describes these efforts as “low throughput,” and typically delivered by academics rather than industry professionals. Aligned Talent Network aims to shift that dynamic by connecting trainees directly with bioscience companies.

The platform’s goal is twofold: career alignment through structured self-assessment coupled with a pipeline of consulting projects.

The startup is developing tools that help trainees identify personal values, match them to career paths and access learning modules specific to those roles. Trainees could pursue modules tied to life sciences, such as scientific writing, consulting, entrepreneurship and more.

The second component provides project-based experience by matching trainees to short consulting engagements submitted by bioscience companies. These real-world projects offer companies a vetted talent pool while giving trainees practical experience and networking opportunities.

The model is inspired in part by pro-bono consulting groups he participated in as a postdoctoral research associate but expands the concept into a formalized system.

Revenue model still in development

The platform is exploring several payer options, including university-subsidized seats, optional trainee subscriptions and company participation fees.

Mouradian envisions bioscience companies paying a retainer to contribute projects and access talent, with a minimal hiring fee if they choose to recruit from the pipeline.

“They pay a retaining fee so that they can contribute projects and sample the talent,” he said. PhD programs could sponsor seats to “ensure their trainees are positioned for professional success.”

A new addition to Wisconsin’s biohealth innovation landscape

Mouradian recently completed MKE Tech Hub Coalition’s FOR-M program and plans to join UW-Milwaukee’s I-CORP program as the next step in evolving this concept into a viable company. By connecting trainees with real industry projects and helping companies access pre-vetted candidates, the platform seeks to bridge a longstanding gap between academic training and industry needs. While early in development, Aligned Talent Network brings a novel approach to talent development in the state’s fast-growing biohealth sector.