Owning Your Career Narrative in a Changing Industry (SAPA-NE x Moderna Panel)
Abstract
Panel discussion at the SAPA-NE x Moderna 2026 Career Development Workshop (Part 2). Panelists from Moderna, Eli Lilly, Flagship, and AstraZeneca discussed how expectations for scientific talent are shifting across the 2026 biotech landscape. Key themes included strategic visibility and personal branding, AI as a practical part of daily scientific work, leadership readiness and organizational change, and building business acumen as a scientist. Tommy shared three practical content pillars for building a professional brand: sharing past achievements, discussing current work or learning, and commenting thoughtfully on industry developments. Moderator: Tracy Zhang (SAPA-NE). Panelists: Rena Baek (Moderna), Jason Kerr (Moderna), Cheryl Cao (Eli Lilly), Ge Zhang (Flagship), Ming ‘Tommy’ Tang (AstraZeneca).
Panel discussion at the SAPA-NE x Moderna 2026 Career Development Workshop Part 2 on owning your career narrative in a changing biotech industry.
Themes covered:
- Strategic visibility and personal branding: doing strong work quietly is no longer enough. Three content pillars for building a brand: share past achievements, discuss current work or learning, and comment thoughtfully on industry developments.
- AI and the future of scientific work: build AI fluency now, but scientists remain fully responsible for data accuracy, interpretation, and regulatory integrity. AI outputs must always be verified.
- Leadership readiness: the shift from thinking only about scientific questions to considering business implications, strategic trade-offs, and program-level impact.
- Business acumen for scientists: ask three recurring questions of any project: What is the technology and data really telling us? What is the unique value proposition? What is the best strategic path to achieve the goal?