Astrophysicist inspires graduate students at the College of Pharmacy
The Inspire Mentorship Program at the College of Pharmacy prepares graduate students to navigate their career journeys as they approach the end of their programs.
“We do all of this because we want to see each other succeed,” said Nitesh Sanghai, a PhD student and program coordinator. “When you are finishing your program, it can feel like you are at the edge of a cliff.”
The program, launched in 2024, aims to provide support and inspiration to pharmacy graduate students as they prepare to enter the workforce, following the lead of those who have been there before.
On September 9, the student-led initiative invited Dr. Harsha Blumer, associate director of research and analytics at the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy (MCHP), to share her own unconventional career trajectory during a program session.
“Some people grow up not knowing what they want to do,” she began. “But I always did. I knew I wanted to be an astrophysicist.”
Originally from Kerala, India, Blumer pursued a PhD in astrophysics at the University of Manitoba. She then took on a postdoctoral fellowship at West Virginia University, where she worked with the Green Bank Telescope for high-energy astrophysics research. “It was what I always wanted,” she said. “It was my passion.”
Despite her love of astrophysics and the rewarding research she was u – which included collaborating with various international teams such as NASA – her life wasn’t just about work.
During her studies, she got married and she and her husband had their first child. Studying and parenting at the same time is challenging enough, but her husband stayed behind in Canada while Blumer pursued her dream in the United States.
“My child said ‘Mommy’ for the first time over FaceTime,” she remembered. “If I talk about it too much, I’ll cry.” That was when she knew it was time to come home.
“There were so many rejections,” she said, remembering the career hunt. “Oh, you’re an astrophysicist? What does that have to do with anything?”
Finally, she landed a position at the University of Manitoba as a research facilitator and technology transfer manager, then moved into her current position with MCHP five months ago. “I am good with data and I managed a team,” she said matter-of-factly. “Here it’s applying the same thing on the public health side.”
For Blumer, that’s the key takeaway she wanted students to absorb. “You may see a job that doesn’t directly relate to your field, but what you learn as a PhD student, all those skills are transferable.”
Throughout the presentation, graduate students were nodding and smiling. “Life is not going to be a straight road,” affirmed master’s student Burak Berk, highlighting the importance of resilience.
“When I heard the speaker was the associate director at MCHP, I was curious about how she built her career,” said Floriane Houenagnon, also a master’s student. “I came to learn some of the key advice that she didn’t know back then.”
As Blumer concluded her talk, she urged students to embrace the twists and turns of their career journeys. “I took a chance,” she said. “If you don’t take the chance, you won’t know.”