Alumni Profile
Career change empowerment and professional support
MS in Biotechnology student Jessica Lutgen (MS ‘23), graduating in May 2023, found that the advice, mentorship, and continuous support she’s received from program faculty, staff, and related professionals helped her transition from a difficult job situation, to a role in product management at Promega Corporation, to a return to her career start at Exact Sciences.
Lutgen had become frustrated with a previous employer after the organization’s failure to support the project they recruited her to lead. That’s when Angela Ryan, Vice President of Clinical & IVD Product Management at Illumina, gave a presentation in Lutgen’s Business Fundamentals for Biotechnology class. Ryan talked about career development paths, progressive skill development through your career, roles in product management, and integrating career experiences to accomplish leadership and advancement. The topic sparked Lutgen’s interest in product management, and she connected with instructor Hemanth Shenoi, who has had product management roles at Illumina and Lucigen (now LGC Biosearch Technologies), and worked previously with Ryan at Promega.
“Hemanth and Angela were hugely influential in my transition to being a Product Manager with Promega,” says Lutgen. “Angela and I exchanged emails and went for coffee to talk through my career goals. She helped me put together a game plan for making the most of my time left and to figure out what a next role could look like. When I applied to Promega, Hemanth helped me find the hiring manager and answered a bunch of my questions during the application process.”
While still a student in the program, Lutgen was hired for the Product Manager of Genomic Solutions at Promega Corporation, where she worked with Eric Vincent, Senior Global Product Manager and a longtime MS in Biotechnology laboratory instructor. Vincent teaches Molecular Technologies I–Diagnostic Testing and Molecular Technologies III–Assay Development, two of the program’s three hands-on laboratory courses delivered in partnership with the BTC Institute, the non-profit educational organization supported by Promega.
“Eric Vincent was on my team and has been a wonderful mentor,” says Lutgen. “I worked with so many people that are a part of the biotechnology program, and that helped me get acclimated and feel more comfortable at Promega.”
Lutgen credits the M.S. in Biotechnology Program’s Associate Director Bryan Husk with having substantial impact on her career before she even joined the program.
“Bryan has spent the most time really listening to what I hoped to achieve and what makes me feel fulfilled, and he has always encouraged me to take a leap and ask for something better, when I wasn’t sure I could do it,” Lutgen says.
Lutgen continues, “I wouldn’t have had the courage to think about leaving my earlier job and applying to Promega if Bryan hadn’t stopped me after class to talk with Hemanth. If I had to pick the one person from the Biotech program that has had the greatest influence on me in terms of making big career changing decisions, it would be him.”
With multiple new job experiences during her time as a graduate student, Lutgen gained a deeper awareness of her potential and the confidence to lead her career with its changing directions. As Lutgen neared the completion of her Capstone Research Project, she came full circle in realizing that her true passion remained in working directly with science hands-on in the laboratory. She returned to Exact Sciences in the spring of 2023 as a Senior Associate Scientist where she leads the development of the company’s next generation of products for the early detection of cancer.
Update: Since Jessica’s return to Exact Sciences in 2023, she has been promoted to a Lead Scientist role with the Technology Transfer group.
