Amanda Bolgioni-Smith Named BEST Director

Amanda Bolgioni-Smith has been appointed director of BU’s Broadening Experiences in Scientific Training (BEST) program, effective Sept. 3. The University is one of 17 institutions to receive the prestigious BEST award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to provide biomedical professional development to assist PhD students and postdoctoral trainees prepare for careers beyond conventional academic research.

As director, Ms. Bolgioni-Smith will implement programming that allows trainees to discover and enhance training opportunities. She also will work with PhD candidates and post-doctoral researchers to identify strengths and assist in filling skill gaps needed for their chosen career paths.

Ms. Bolgioni-Smith is about to complete her doctorate in Biomolecular Pharmacology in the Ganem Lab at BU, where she studies cancer cell biology. She gained a passion for trainee career development during her PhD program when she was a BU BEST intern and Peer Mentor for the MIT IMPACT Program.