Vitamin PhD Podcast

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Whitney and Ayantika meet with Dr. Tommy Vitolo, engineer and representative of the 15th Norfolk District in the Massachusetts House of Representatives . In this episode, we discuss Dr. Vitolo’s experiences navigating the harsh realities and triumphs of graduate school, and how a PhD in engineering eventually led Dr. Vitolo to a job in government. 

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Whitney and Ayantika chat with Dr. William McKeen, author and Professor in journalism at Boston University. This episode explores the role of mentors throughout our PhD journey, navigating career changes, and the challenges of finding a work-life balance.  Article: “ AT UNIVERSITIES, THE TENURE TRACK GOES OFF THE RAILS ”

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Whitney and Ayantika speak with Dr. Kim Vanuytsel, stem cell biologist and Assistant Professor in medicine at Boston University. In this episode, we dive into conversations about the challenge of juggling busy careers and personal lives, dealing with imposter syndrome, and the importance of taking care of yourself. 

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Whitney and Ayantika chat with Dr. Rhonda Harrison, bioinformatician and Founder and CEO of Biopharmix Consulting. In this episode, we discuss the importance of being proud of your successes, managing your time, and more!  Task manager: Remember the Milk  

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Whitney and Ayantika meet with Dr. Beverly Brown, biochemist, former first lady of Boston University, and Director of Development, Industry at the Boston University School of Public Health. In this episode, we discuss how Dr. Brown overcame challenges during her PhD program and explore the value of mentorship before, during, and after graduate school. 

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Whitney and Ayantika talk with Dr. Joanna Davidson, cultural anthropologist and Associate Professor in anthropology at Boston University. This episode explores the importance of making time for self discovery during graduate school, navigating difficult career choices, and advice on dealing with imposter syndrome. 

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to season 11 of Vitamin PhD! In this episode, we are introduced to our new hosts: Whitney Souery and Ayantika Saha. We hope you enjoy listening! Stay tuned each Thursday for new episodes of this season.

Send us Fan Mail On the final episode of season 10, the hosts are talking with Dr. Patricia Fabian about taking an academic career path after getting a PhD. We hope you have enjoyed this season of Vitamin PhD on career development! Dr. Patricia Fabian's Links: Website: https://www.bu.edu/sph/profile/m-fabian/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/PatriciaFabianS @ PatriciaFabianS

Send us Fan Mail On this episode, our hosts speak with Dr. Lindsey Butler, Director of Climate and Health Resilience at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, about deciding to take a non-academic path after getting a PhD. Websites: https://coverage.bluecrossma.com/author/dr-lindsey-butler Twitter: https://twitter.com/drlindseybutler @drlindseybutler

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to episode 3! Today, the hosts speak with Maria Erb, Director of the Newbury Center for First Generation students at Boston University, about supporting students, especially first generation students and students from underrepresented groups,  in navigating career opportunities and education. Website: https://www.bu.edu/newbury-center/about/meet-the-staff/ Newbury Center a...

Send us Fan Mail For this episode, hosts Alexa and Adrianna speak with Dr.  Autumn Asher BlackDeer, a queer decolonial scholar-activist from the Southern Cheyenne Nation who currently serves as an assistant professor in the Graduate School of Social Work at the University of Denver. They discuss the idea of decolonizing the academy and  considerations for professional development. You can find out...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, our hosts speak with Dr. Gertrude Nonterah,  the founder of The Bold PhD   and speaker, expert panelist, and workshop facilitator. They discuss the meaning behind a personal brand and how to use social media to facilitate career development. 

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to season 10 of Vitamin PhD! In this episode, we are introduced to this season's core capacity, career development, and we meet our new hosts: Adrianna Spindle and Alexa Friedman. We hope you enjoy listening! Stay tuned each Thursday for new episodes of this season.

Send us Fan Mail On today's episode, our hosts speak with Dr. Esther Jones, Associate Professor of English and the E Franklin Fraser Chair of African American Literature, Theory and Culture at Clark University, on self-awareness and what it means to practice that core capacity in our graduate and professional lives.  Links: Medicine and Ethics in Black Women's Speculative Fiction Dr. Est...

Send us Fan Mail Today the hosts speak with Dr. Susanna Harris, founder of PhD Balance, on how we can use self-awareness to better practice communication and advocate for our mental health.  Links: PhD Balance Dr. Susanna Harris's Twitter Dragonfly Mental Health

Send us Fan Mail Today, the hosts are talking with Dr. Hannah Čulík-Baird on the importance of using self-awareness to navigate academia and work on long-term projects.  Links: Cicero and the Early Latin Poets Dr. Hannah Cúlik-Baird's Twitter Haruki Murakami's  What I Talk About When I Talk About Running

Send us Fan Mail Welcome back to Season 9 of Vitamin PhD! Today the hosts finish their conversation with Dr. Emily Roberts, Owner of Personal Finance for PhDs. This is part 2 of an episode discussing how we can use self-awareness to take control of our finances and set ourselves up for a fiscally sustainable and successful future. Links: Personal Finance for PhDs Money Scripts Quiz Erin Lowry&apos...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome back to Season 9 of Vitamin PhD! Today the hosts are speaking to Dr. Emily Roberts, Owner of Personal Finance for PhDs. This is part 1 of an episode discussing how we can use self-awareness to take control of our finances and set ourselves up for a fiscally sustainable and successful future. Links: Personal Finance for PhDs Money Scripts Quiz Erin Lowry's Broke Millen...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to our first official episode of Season 9: Self-Awareness. In this episode, our hosts speak with Maria Erb, Director of the Boston University Newbury Center for First-Generation Students, about using self-awareness to accept our various identities and advocate for ourselves as well.  Check out the Newbury Center website and sign up for their newsletter for updates about up...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we will be meeting our new hosts for Season 9 of Vitamin PhD, Tachira Pichardo and Grace McGowan. They will be speaking with Aly and Emma, the season 8 hosts, about what their season about self awareness entails and who they will be speaking with. They also discuss their own PhD experiences in regards to how it pertains to self-awareness, along with management and...

Send us Fan Mail This episode features a chorus of BU graduate school alumni who share how they leverage skills from graduate school to find success in their post-graduate careers. Guests represent sectors ranging from consulting to public history and from arts administration to science writing. They bring varied experience levels, ranging from newly-minted PhDs who recently entered the workforce...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, the hosts talk with Dr. Joyce Wong about an approach to leadership, which foregrounds collaboration, power, critical self awareness, and relationships. How does identity intersect with approaches to leadership? Especially for minoritized groups such as women and BIPOC working in STEM? And, how is the pandemic affecting leadership in those spaces?

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Aly and Emma explore power dynamics that affect learning and working in groups and institutions with Harvard Lecturer Houman Harouni. The conversation addresses topics including group dynamics, power, leadership, social change, self-awareness and relationships in a wide variety of countries and contexts.

Send us Fan Mail In today's episode, hosts Emma and Aly talk with independent global consultant Debra Wahlberg about project management. Everything from adaptability, interpersonal skills, problem solving, and leadership is discussed.  Debra Wahlberg is an independent consultant who has provided strategic leadership on international development programs in culturally diverse and politically s...

Send us Fan Mail In this week's episode, Emma and Aly speak with Joshua Finkelstein, Executive Director of the Boston University Biological Design Center. They speak with him about collaboration and creativity, identifying a gap, risk/reward, and more. They dive into some of the structural problems with innovation, and how these issues tie into leadership.