Newsletter Article

PhD Graduates Reflect on Time in Department

Name

Adam Kuczynski

Area

Adult Clinical

What are your plans after finishing your PhD?

I will be working as a postdoctoral fellow at UW Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences with Drs. Pat Areán and Kevin Hallgren. My work will focus on developing methods to identify optimal engagement with digital mental health interventions and implementing a peer bridger program to help individuals transition from online engagement with substance use resources to in-person care.

What was a highlight of your time in grad school?

Easily the people I met along the way. I connected with so many brilliant fellow graduate and undergraduate students while I was at UW. Seeing undergraduate mentees advance into diverse medical and mental health graduate programs has been especially rewarding. I was lucky to learn from and collaborate on research with other graduate students and postdocs while at UW.

What are you most looking forward to next?

A livable income, for sure. On top of that I look forward to developing a program of research aimed at addressing the research-to-practice gap in mental health, with a focus on digital mental health solutions. I also look forward to continue advocating for the role of psychology at Harborview Medical Center, and will be working to implement a sustainable CBT for psychosis program on the inpatient units there.

What advice do you have for current/incoming graduate students?

Do not spend too much time worrying about where you want to land after graduate school. Although this advice is contrary to much of the advice we get in graduate school, we leave this program with very strong research and clinical skills that make us desirable candidates for a range of industries. Spend time in graduate school learning and doing things that make you feel fulfilled and you will fall into a career path that suits you. Of course this is just an N = 1 perspective, and one that comes from a place of immense privilege, so my second piece of advice is to take my advice with a grain of salt!

 

Name

Loranzie Rogers

Area

Animal Behavior

What are your plans after finishing your PhD?

Following my PhD, I will be joining the lab of Dr. Nicholas Bellono at Harvard University as a postdoctoral fellow.

What was a highlight of your time in grad school?

Something I always look forward to are the lab's fish collection trips during the summer. The Sisneros lab works with a locally available fish, the plainfin midshipman. During the summer, when these fish are reproducing in the rocky intertidal, we will all go out to the field and collect fish at low tide. Days outside with the other lab members are always fun!

What are you most looking forward to next?

I am really stoked to take my science in a new direction. It is going to be a lot of work, but I am really excited to learn new approaches, work with diverse organisms, and perform some exciting curiosity-driven science.

What advice do you have for current/incoming graduate students?

Make sure that you have fun doing this work :)