UC Irvine GPS-STEM

Graduate Professional Success for PhD students and Postdocs in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics

About GPS-STEM

Mission Statement

GPS-STEM (previously, GPS-BIOMED) is a career and professional development program for PhD students & Postdoctoral fellows in STEM. The program is funded by UCI’s schools of Biological Sciences, Medicine, Physical Sciences & Engineering plus the provost office. The program aims to better prepare our STEM scientists for a variety of careers within the STEM workforce, and empower them to become not only skilled scientists, but also polished professionals. We work to create, identify and support innovative approaches to broaden the graduate and postdoctoral training.

Goals

Our program is designed to meet the following goals:

  • Increase awareness and interest in diverse careers outside of academic research (EXPLORE).
  • Improve communication and other skills needed to pursue academic and non-academic career paths (TRAIN).
  • Provide hands-on experience through on campus and external internships (EXPERIENCE).
  • Build networks that allow our members to prepare for and transition to diverse careers (TRANSITION).

Current Leadership

Program Director

o: 4143 Natural Sciences II
e: joannl6.uci.edu

Joanne Ly, Ph.D. Joanne previously served as the Multimedia and Communications Director of the GPS-STEM program. In August of 2022, she transitioned to the Program Director of GPS-STEM. Prior to her role, graduated from UC Irvine in June 2022 with a doctorate in Biomedical Engineering. Her research focus was on neonatal oral feeding devices and plans to continue to bring the product to market. Dr. Ly previously served as Multimedia Director of GPS-STEM and had previous event coordinating experiences in Active Minds for mental health advocacy at UC San Diego. Concurrent with her role with GPS-STEM, Dr. Ly serves on DeviceAlliance’s leadership board, an OC-based nonprofit for Medical Device personnel and companies.

Academic Director

o: 216 Sprague Hall
e: fruman@uci.edu

David Fruman, Ph.D., Previously, David served as the Director of NIH-BEST funded GPS-BIOMED program from 2014 – 2019. Currently, he is the Professor in the Department of Molecular Biology & Biochemistry in the School of Biological Sciences at UC Irvine. In the past, he served as the director of the Cellular & Molecular Biosciences (CMB) interdepartmental Ph.D. program.

Past Leadership

e: harinder.singh@uci.edu

Harinder.Singh, Ph.D., Harinder served as the Director of the GPS-STEM program from 2019 – 2022. Currently, he serves as Medical Educator (Course director, Medical Physiology for 1st year Medical Students) in the School of Medicine & Co-Director of the Workforce Development unit at Institute of Clinical & Translational Sciences (ICTS) at UCI. Prior to his role as director of GPS-STEM, he served as the Associate Director for the NIH-BEST funded program, GPS-BIOMED from 2018 – 2019. He earned Doctorate in Cardiovascular biology (Lipid-rafts/Caveolae in vascular health & disease) from Temple University School of Medicine, Philadelphia (2014) and conducted Postdoctoral training in Neurosciences (G-proteins in Major Depressive Disorder) at University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) (2014-2018). Harinder served many executive roles in Chicago based Scientist organization, CHIentist, dedicated to providing a networking platform for junior researchers & industry professionals. He was appointed to the Board of Directors of science advocacy organization, Future of Research, with a mission to engage & empower early career scientists with evidence based resources in improving the scientific research endeavor. As the leader of UC Irvine’s GPS-STEM program, Harinder is dedicated to finding solutions that broaden research training, foster relationships between academia<>private sector & raise awareness on how academic discoveries advance society.

Emma Flores-Kim, PhD., served as Associate Director of GPS-BIOMED program until September 2018. She received her doctorate in neurosciences from Northwestern University, Chicago. She also served as Co-director of bioEXCEL and chemEXCEL, summer bridge programs designed to prepare incoming freshman of diverse background for success at Northwestern University. Currently, she is a Medical Writer at NeoTract, responsible for preparing, editing, and reviewing publications, reports, and scientific literature reviews. She collaborates with cross-functional teams to drive the dissemination of clinical publications for Class II medical device products.

GPS-STEM Program Advisory Committee:

  1. David Fruman, Senior Director/Academic Director, GPS-STEM
  2. Harinder Singh, Director, GPS-STEM (Currently Associate Director, GPS-BIOMED)
  3. Michael Mulligan, Associate Dean of Graduate Studies, Dept. of Development and Cell Biology
  4. Klemens J Hertel, Associate Dean for Graduate Studies, School of Medicine
  5. Fadi Kurdahi, Associate Dean for Graduate & Professional Studies, Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
  6. Karina Cramer, Director, Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program (INP), Professor of Neurobiology & Behavior
  7. Frithjof Kruggel, Professor Biomedical Engineering
  8. Matthew Hanson, Director – New Ventures at UCI Applied Innovation
  9. Terrance R. Mayes, Associate Vice Chancellor of Diversity & Inclusion – Chief Diversity Officer, Susan and Henry Samueli College of Health Sciences, Office of Diversity and Inclusion
  10. Luis Mota-Bravo, Director, Outreach, Research Training & Minority Science Programs, Office of the Dean
  11. Daniel Mann, Director of Graduate Student & Postdoctoral Scholar Instructional Development, Division of Teaching Excellence & Innovation
  12. Christopher Vanderwal, Professor, Department of Chemistry
  13. Lauren Lyon, Graduate Career Counselor, Division of Career Pathways
  14. Yergalem T. Meharenna, Training Grant Officer, UCI
  15. Kayleigh Anderson, Postdoctoral Affairs & Professional Development Manager
  16. Joanne Ly, PhD student, BESTern, GPS-BIOMED/GPS-STEM
  17. Sharon Jan, PhD student and BESTerns, GPS-BIOMED/GPS-STEM