{"id":107127,"date":"2026-03-27T10:27:44","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T14:27:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/?p=107127"},"modified":"2026-03-27T11:18:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T15:18:08","slug":"gms-phd-student-wins-boston-university-life-sciences-case-competition-discovering-new-career-paths","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/2026\/03\/27\/gms-phd-student-wins-boston-university-life-sciences-case-competition-discovering-new-career-paths\/","title":{"rendered":"GMS PhD Student Wins Boston University Life Sciences Case Competition, Discovering New Career Paths"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Sanjana Bhagavatula poses with her team following their case competition win.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sanjana Bhagavatula, a third-year PhD student in the Department of Genetics and Genomics, did not expect that participating in a business school case competition would change how she thinks about her future.<\/p>\n

After participating in (and winning) the third annual Boston University Healthcare Case Competition in February, however, she discovered that her skills as a scientist extend far beyond the lab.<\/p>\n

Hosted by the BU Questrom School of Business, the Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine and the College of Engineering, the competition brings interdisciplinary teams together to answer challenging questions bridging life sciences and market strategy.\u00a0 This year\u2019s client was health-tech company Philips.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hadn\u2019t heard about this competition until a few weeks before it happened,\u201d Bhagavatula said. \u201cI got an email from [GMS Director of Professional Development B\u00e9n\u00e9dicte Gnangnon, PhD]. I thought, \u2018sure; let me just try it out.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Bhagavatula, who recently passed her qualifying exam, is completing her PhD research in Dr. Stefano Monti\u2019s computational biology lab, where she analyzes transcriptome profiling data to study aging and cancer.<\/p>\n

She saw the competition as an opportunity to explore life sciences consulting as a potential career path, especially having attended several meetings through the BU Consulting Club.<\/p>\n

Over two intensive weeks, Bhagavatula\u2019s six-person team worked on a case proposing a plan to boost Philip\u2019s leadership in the cardiac ultrasound market and make diagnostic care more accessible. The team was mentored by Jeff Abraham, Partner at Health Advances.<\/p>\n

Preparation for the case competition was rigorous, involving significant research and analysis of public earnings statements from Philips and competitor companies. The team spent upwards of 20 hours preparing their presentation, which they delivered to judges on the 4th<\/sup> floor of the Medical Campus Instructional Building.<\/p>\n

Her team won, but the impact of the experience on Bhagavatula extended far beyond the victory. It allowed her to reflect on the transferable hard and soft skills she has that could serve her in multiple fields. Her competition mentor even repeatedly told her team that they were just as qualified as first-year associates arriving to their company from college.<\/p>\n

“I think we think of ourselves as very siloed in what we do,\u201d Bhagavatula said. \u201cI’m a scientist, so it feels like, \u2018Oh, well, you can’t look into the business stuff. That\u2019s not meant for you.\u2019 But that was so far from the truth.”<\/p>\n

Bhagavatula\u2019s key takeaway is that your career does not have to follow one path.<\/p>\n

\u201c[I gained] just general confidence that you don\u2019t have to go into exactly the same thing you studied,\u201d she said. \u201cLearning is continuous, and it can be in different directions.\u201d<\/p>\n

For other graduate students considering trying something outside their field, Bhagavatula has simple advice: \u201cJust apply. Even if you think it\u2019s not for you, even if you update your resume for the first time in years\u2026 try it. You might surprise yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n

** Bhagavatula and her participation in Boston University Life Sciences Case Competition\u00a0 highlight how BU is embracing convergent interdisciplinary collaboration and research across the University in response to the recent BU Task Force on Convergence (see The Brink March 13<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sanjana Bhagavatula, a third-year PhD student in the Department of Genetics and Genomics, did not expect that participating in a business school case competition would change how she thinks about her future. After participating in (and winning) the third annual Boston University Healthcare Case Competition in February, however, she discovered that her skills as a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20706,"featured_media":107128,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[795,54,7074],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107127"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20706"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=107127"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107127\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":107129,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107127\/revisions\/107129"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/107128"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=107127"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=107127"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=107127"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}