Djade Soumana is proud to be a scientist. You can tell by the smile that stretches across his face when he recalls winning the Ruth Kirschstein Predoctoral Research Service Award. That grant catapulted him into a professional career in his second year as a Ph.D. student, giving him hands-on experience as a principal investigator for his research. The fellowship–and the educational and professional opportunities that followed–set him up for career success, he says.
Djade credits much of his upward trajectory to the Biomedical Science Careers Program (BSCP), which connected him with peers and role models embarking on similarly ambitious tracks. Though students from many underrepresented groups are interested in STEM, most have little guidance about what those career paths–or the skills needed to get there–might look like.
“When I was an undergrad, there weren’t many minorities,” Djade says. “Talent is universally distributed, but opportunity is not.” Through BSCP, he gained valuable insight as well as inspiration. “When you see people who look like you working in a lab rather than the cafeteria for their college work/study placement…It was a game-changer. It gave me guidance on what I should be doing to secure the future that I wanted for myself.”
Founded in 1991, BSCP works to raise the numbers of underrepresented minorities and disadvantaged individuals in biomedical sciences, biotech, healthcare, and the pharmaceutical industry. “We recognized tremendous potential within the minority student community, but there were minimal ways for talented students to access the information they needed to pursue a career,” says BSCP President Dr. Joan Reede. “BSCP helps make these connections,” encouraging students to consider STEM and following up with resources and support.
BSCP is fueled by passionate industry associates who offer time, expertise, mentorship and financial donations to bring the program’s vision to life. Today, Djade works for Cytiva, helping biopharma companies discover and manufacture innovative vaccines, biologic drugs, and novel cell and gene therapies. He is also a BSCP mentor and Executive Board member. During the pandemic, he and his fellow Cytiva associates proposed a collaboration with BSCP. Together alongside other stakeholders, they created BSCP’s COVID scholarship, assisting students with books, tuition, and computers during the pandemic, when the part-time jobs so many rely on were particularly hard to come by.
The scholarship has since evolved into a general education support program geared towards building an inclusive environment. “The entire industry came together to respond and react to a global pandemic,” says Djade, who believes the same kind of collective approach is what will have the greatest impact on the challenges facing diversity and inclusion. “We should be using that model of collaboration to bring big change here, too.”
Top-down commitment to diversity increases accountability and encourages employees to strive for a more inclusive workplace, affecting real change. “As a customer-facing associate, I visit a lot of businesses in our industry. And you see the lack of diversity in the labs; it’s front and center,” says Djade, adding that other industries aren’t as starkly homogenous, in part because many STEM students are working in those industries while earning their degrees.
His hope is that Cytiva and other industry leaders will be able to capture that talent through involvement with BSCP and nurture it so students get life science jobs early–and stay there. In 2020, the company partnered with BSCP to hire a class of interns who have since finished their degrees and entered careers as doctors and physician associates, or stepped into support roles in the life sciences.
Image: Jeff Thiebauth Photography
A group of Cytiva associates who have been a part of Cytiva’s collaboration with BSCP recently attended BSCP’s Evening of Hope event in Boston, MA. During the event, Cytiva was recognized as a Hope Visionary for its participation and support of the mission to nurture diverse talent in the life sciences.
A few former interns have stayed on with Cytiva as employees as the company builds long-term inclusivity. Real diversity involves weaving equality and inclusion into an organization’s values, not just meeting quotas. “BSCP has impacted thousands of lives, and countless individuals are now experiencing biomedical careers thanks to mentorship, development and support,” says Ryan Walker, Cytiva’s Sustainability Program Manager. “We want to be a part of that.”