Bagisha Maitra, MBIOT '21

I graduated from the MBIOT program in May 2021. I also completed a graduate entrepreneurship certificate from the Mays Business School, Texas A&M University. My primary motivation behind my second Master’s degree was to understand the functioning of a business, to enhance my managerial acumen and to build the necessary skills to competently lead the development and commercialization of promising technologies within the biotechnology industry.

With the highly resourceful, flexible curriculum crafted in a unique, interdisciplinary fashion and a strong emphasis on its business component, the MBIOT program at Texas A&M University has been a perfect fit for me! The program aspired me to successfully transition to the life science industry from a research-oriented academic background.

I am grateful to the MBIOT program for allowing me to take my interest forward and build relevant experiences by leveraging the program’s cornerstone internship component. I completed a project management co-op program in Quality Assurance at iBio, Inc., Bryan, Texas. After graduation, I got a job offer from the company to join them full-time. This was an enriching three years’ experience working in the CDMO within a GMP-regulated environment. As a project manager, I gained experience in domestic and international client relationship management by spearheading client projects and the COVID-19 vaccine development project. During my co-op in QA, I was introduced to the cGMP world, rooted in lean manufacturing principles. Lean Manufacturing Principles was my favorite class at Texas A&M University. This is an example of how flexible the MBIOT program is as it allows the students to tailor their courses to align with their specific goals!

During my studies, I worked at Texas A&M Innovation (Technology Commercialization Office) and completed several management classes at the Mays Business School. These activities developed my emotional intelligence and business acumen and enabled me to be in a decision-making position. The MBIOT program increased my ability to persevere diligently in a deadline-oriented environment with a team and deliver goals while honing my analytical and creative problem-solving skills. I learned many leadership skills, and a strong sense of commitment to whichever challenge I undertake.

Currently, I work as a Senior Specialist with the Systems and Compliance team in Quality Assurance at Moderna, Boston, Massachusetts. Along with my diverse array of experiences within the healthcare ecosystem and my zeal to ride the learning curve, solve relevant global business problems, and reduce interface failure risk in the healthcare industry, I aim to bridge the gap between the science and business silos.