Careers & Options
A wide variety of career opportunities are open to students with a background in neuroscience. With a bachelors degree it is possible to obtain positions in both basic or clinical research as well as in the pharmaceutical and biomedical industries. Students who go on to obtain a Ph.D. in neuroscience have the opportunity to enter similar positions at the senior level or pursue a career in research and/or teaching at a college or university. Students interested in clinical applications typically go on to obtain an M.D. degree or a Ph.D. in psychology with a specialty in neurobiology or neuropsychology. Some neuroscience students with interests in both research and clinical practice enroll in a joint M.D./Ph.D. program. As do most M.D. and Ph.D. candidates, many of our graduates spend the first 1-2 years after Williams working as research assistants before starting postgraduate work; below you can find examples of what former students are doing at different stages of their careers.
See also the videos from the 2025 “Neuro After Williams” symposium,
featuring Tori Saltz ’22 (Columbia Ph.D. program), Andrea Orozco ’21 (Vertex Pharmaceutical), Grace Kromm ’20 (Harvard Medical School), and Joe Boivin ’09 (M.I.T.)
Masen Boucher (’20) completed her honors thesis at Williams with Professor Sandstrom, investigating behavioral outcomes in a mouse model of traumatic brain injury. Upon graduation, she joined the lab of Dr. Rebekah Mannix (’90) and Dr. Bill Meehan at Boston Children’s Hospital. There, she conducted translational traumatic brain injury research. In 2023, she joined the Neuroscience PhD program at the University of Pennsylvania. She has begun work on her dissertation in the lab of Dr. Alice Chen-Plotkin studying the molecular mechanisms underlying Parkinson’s disease. “The education and research experience I gained at Williams were formative. Not only is the opportunity that students have to design and conduct their own projects under the guidance of faculty unique, the instruction in class is stellar. Being pushed to read, synthesize, and critique scientific publications so early in my academic career shaped the way I think about science and prepared me to pursue graduate studies. I am incredibly grateful for the experiences and relationships I made through the Neuroscience Program at Williams.”
Rachel Essner (’16) worked as a lab technician at UCSF for two years after graduating, where she studied the neural circuits that control hunger. She is now completing her PhD at Harvard University in its Program in Neuroscience, where she works in Mark Andermann’s lab to understand how the brain regulates interoception, which is the sensing and perception of body signals. After she defends, she plans to continue neuroscience research either in academia or in the biotech industry. “My honors research in Matt Carter’s lab inspired my passion for understanding the neural circuits that regulate bodily homeostasis. The hands-on lab experience not only prepared me extremely well for my PhD, but also left me excited to continue neuroscience research.”
Katie Palmer (’10) studied science journalism at New York University, and after receiving her master’s worked at Wired magazine for seven years, starting as a fact-checker and finally editing its science vertical. She is now a correspondent reporting on health technology at STAT News, where she covers clinical artificial intelligence, telehealth, and the health data economy. “Completing my senior thesis in neuroscience taught me that bench research wasn’t my ultimate goal,” Katie shares. “But the investigative skills and independence it taught me are critical as I interrogate research findings as a science and health journalist.”
Erika Williams (’08) worked as part of a field research team studying social behavior of capuchin monkeys in Costa Rica for a year before enrolling in an MD/PhD program at Harvard. She is now a practicing neurologist at Mass General / Brigham, where she also does research on the peripheral autonomic nervous system. Reflecting on her time at Williams, Erika says, “The best teaching I have ever received was at Williams, and it helped me acquire the knowledge base from which all my subsequent work derives.”
Nick Bamat (’04) extended his honors research after graduating, working for two years as a lab technician at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He then completed his MD at Penn and his Pediatric Residency at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and now specializes in treating newborn and infant chronic lung disease at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Nick reports that “the Neuroscience Program at Williams provided an early appreciation of the ways in which concepts in basic science form the building blocks towards understanding human physiology, and when altered, the pathophysiology underlying human disease.”
Sarah Hart-Unger (’02) completed her MD at Duke University in 2007. She finished her residency in pediatrics in 2011 and completed a Pediatric Endocrinology Fellowship at Duke in 2013. She is now the medical director of the Pediatric Endocrinology program at the Joe Dimaggio Children’s Hospital. Reflecting on her neuroscience experience at Williams, Sarah writes, “My thesis research examined the effects of early life stress on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and memory. This was a great experience in learning how to do independent research. The coursework was excellent as well. In particular, Hormones & Behavior was a highlight and has played an important role in influencing my career as a pediatric endocrinologist.”