From the Lab to the Limelight - Blog version of our #TraineeTuesday Twitter series
Today is #TraineeTuesday and...in the spirit of this Thursday's Yale Life Sciences Pitchfest 2022...we're highlighting Noa Golan, PhD, who graduated with her PhD from the Cafferty lab in the spring and is now working at Bain. Let's explore her journey!
Noa still remembers the first day her neuron extraction method worked. Her research in the Cafferty lab focused on identifying the molecular mechanisms of neuronal injury and repair. She valued the therapeutic potential that this foundational work could one day inspire.
“Graduate school is full of small ups and downs—or in the case of my cohort, ups, downs and a global pandemic—and it's hard to stay motivated. Dr. Cafferty was incredibly inspiring as a mentor and always emphasized that the work we were doing had the power to improve the lives of those who had experienced spinal cord injuries,” Noa said.
Noa studied Behavioral Neuroscience at Northeastern, after which she worked at Vertex Pharmaceuticals on preclinical drug development for neurodegenerative diseases. That work sparked her interest in neural injury and repair, propelling her to pursue a PhD at Yale.
Noa developed a novel neuron extraction method ultimately used to create a transcriptional atlas of adult corticospinal neurons. With her eye for innovation, she was a founding member of the Yale Biotech Club, and was a Canaan Fellow and a member of the Yale Graduate Student Consulting Club.
My experiences at Yale went beyond just setting me up for success professionally. The mentors and friends I have made have truly made me a better, more thoughtful person.
Noa Golan, PhD
After Yale, Noa joined Bain as a management consultant. In this role, she tackles a range of problems using the "vast analytical arsenal" developed during graduate school.
Thanks for joining us, Noa! Are you interested in biotech too? Register for Yale Ventures' upcoming PitchFest to learn from 32 of Yale’s most promising innovators.