Beacon VP Investments is a private investment group composed of graduate students, Ph.D. candidates, and postdoctoral fellows from Harvard University and MIT.  It invests in small and mid-cap biotechs that have drugs progressing through the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval process. Its recent successes include:

• Greater than 25% net return on investments during the group’s inaugural year.
• More than 53,000 views on published research articles since late October of last year.
• A recently introduced method for public investors to mirror its investment modeland trades.

One of the founding principles of Beacon VP Investments is “learning and leveraging collective intelligence.” In keeping with this principle, the group has created a “Beacon VP Basic Investment Education Series” in order to share its knowledge and experience with students who are interested in investing.

If you’re interested in participating, please RSVP here.

The Investment Education Series is a 3-month long course, consisting of three parts:

Part 1: An Introduction to Investing and Investment Approaches. Topics will include Value Investing, Growth Investing, Company Analysis, and Sector Rotation.

Part 2: Basic Concepts for Creating a Trading Plan and Portfolio. Your team will create a trading plan for a portfolio and ways to test your trading plan.

Part 3: Managing, Presenting and Fine-tuning Your Trading Plan. Your team will present actual trading results and ways to improve upon your plan.

This is a team-oriented and learn-by-doing course. You will be assigned to a team on Meeting 1. You will construct, manage and present a trading plan and portfolio with your team. While no investment or business experience is needed, you must be willing and able to commit to your team for the duration of the series. Therefore, we charge a $75 fee ($25 non-refundable and $50 deposit), due on 04/14/13, for this course and a $6 penalty/meeting for deserting your team. The net (deposit – penalties) will be refunded to you on 06/30/13.

All meetings will be held at One Broadway, Cambridge (CIC) from 4 to 6 pm.

Part 1: Value & Growth Investing

Meeting 1. (04/14/13)                           Idea Generation

Meeting 2. (04/28/13)                            Company Analysis (bottom-up approach)

Meeting 3. (05/12/13)                            Economic Cycle & Sector Rotation (top-down approach)

Part 2: Trading Plan & Portfolio Construction

Meeting 4. (05/19/13)                            Idea generation – brainstorm a trading plan with your team

Meeting 5. (06/02/13)                            Present your trading plan as a team

Meeting 5. (06/02/13)                            Start testing your trading plan- back testing may be possible

Meeting 6. (06/09/13)                            Portfolio Creation & Risk Management

Part 3: Portfolio Management

Meeting 7. (06/16/13)                            Trading Psychology

Meeting 8. (06/23/13)                            Share your actual paper trading results

Meeting 9. (06/30/13)                            Trading plan modifications

Are you wondering how to make connections to help you find your next job?

LinkedIn has become an incredibly powerful tool for professional networking and enhancing your job search. The Whitehead Postdoc Association is holding a workshop on how to use LinkedIn and they’ve invited Broadies to attend.

What: Hands on session featuring information on: what to include in your profile, building your summary, how to connect with others, groups you might want to consider, making contributions to discussions, and researching/following companies and industry trends.

When: Monday, April 8th from 2-4 pm

Where: Whitehead Institute, 9 Cambridge Center, McGovern Auditorium

This is a “working” workshop, so please bring your laptop. Also, you need to create a basic LinkedIn profile and join at least one group before you come.

You’re invited to a panel discussion with former postdoctoral Broadies now established in academia.  Bring your questions about what the transition was like, why they opted to go into academia instead of industry, and how they leveraged their connections with the Broad Institute to get to their current academic position.

This event will take place on Wednesday, April 10, in the Monadnock Room (7CC, 2nd Floor) from 12:00-1:30 PM.

The event is open to all Broad-affiliated trainees and lunch will be served. If you’d like to attend, please RSVP to academicaffairs@broadinstitute.org.

Panelist Biographies

Benjamin Ebert, MD, PhD

Dr. Ebert is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, an Associate Physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, co-Director of the Cancer Program at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, and an Associate Member at the Broad Institute. He received a bachelor’s degree from Williams College, a doctorate from Oxford University on a Rhodes Scholarship, and an MD from Harvard Medical School. He completed a residency in Internal Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and a fellowship in Hematology/Oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute before pursuing postdoctoral research at the Broad Institute. His laboratory is based at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and focuses on the molecular basis and treatment of hematologic malignancies, with a particular focus on myelodysplastic syndromes.

Melanie P. Leussis, PhD

Melanie P. Leussis is an assistant professor of psychology at Emmanuel College.  She joined Emmanuel College after a four-year postdoctoral fellowship in behavioral neurogenetics in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and in the Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research at The Broad Institute, and a two-year postdoctoral fellowship in developmental neuropharmacology at McLean Hospital.  Dr. Leussis holds bachelor’s degrees in biology and psychology from the University of Ottawa and Dalhousie University, respectively, and a Ph.D. in psychology with a concentration in behavioral neuroscience from Boston College.  Her current research focus is on animal models of psychiatric disease.

Steven McCarroll, PhD

Steve McCarroll is a professor in the Genetics Department of Harvard Medical School. He is the Director of Genetics at the Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research at the Broad Institute. Steve was a Ph.D. student in Cori Bargmann’s lab (genetics and neuroscience in C. elegans) at U.C. San Francisco, then a postdoc in David Altshuler’s lab (human genetic polymorphism and the genetic basis of complex phenotypes) at MGH and the Broad Institute.

Kiran Musunuru, MD, PhD

Dr. Kiran Musunuru is Assistant Professor of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology at Harvard University and Associate Physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Dr. Musunuru received his M.D. degree from Weill Cornell Medical College, his Ph.D. degree from The Rockefeller University, and his M.P.H. degree from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. He trained in Internal Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Cardiovascular Medicine at Johns Hopkins Hospital, followed by postdoctoral work at Massachusetts General Hospital and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. Dr. Musunuru’s current research focuses on the genetics of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases.

Introducing BroadPAD: Preparing for Advanced Degrees!

BroadPAD, a new, year-round, professional development program, will offer interactive seminars and workshops to any and all Broadies considering advanced degrees (MD, PhD, or MD/PhD). The program, which is a collaboration between the Office of Academic Affairs and the Broad Diversity Initiative, launches Monday, March 18 with the seminar, “Beyond the PhD.”

“Beyond the PhD”

Monday, March 18, 2013 • 3-5 PM • Monadnock Room, 7CC

“Beyond the PhD” will open a window to the many career possibilities available to PhD scientists. Panelists working in a range of research and non-research fields will speak candidly about their own career paths in a 90-minute discussion, with time to ask individual questions to follow.

Panelists:

Megan Gustafson, JD, PhD, Senior Advisor, Goodwin Proctor LLP
Ishara Mills-Henry, PhD, Assistant Professor, Framingham State
Vivian Siegel, PhD, Director of Scientific Education and Public Communications, Broad Institute
Serena Silver, PhD, Staff Scientist, Sanofi Oncology

Panelists will discuss and answer questions related to:

• current job roles andresponsibilities
• career trajectories post-PhD
• the value of a PhD in scientific and non-scientific careers
• professional challenges and/or opportunities encountered
• tips to keep in mind when considering pursuing an advanced degree

Register here through March 18 to reserve your space at the “Beyond the PhD” seminar.

BroadPAD events will continue monthly, with the following topics slated for 2013:

Being a Physician-Scientist
Surviving Your First Year: Graduate School
Surviving Your First Year: Medical School
Compelling Applications for Graduate School
Strong Letters of Recommendation
Personal Statement Writing
Interviewing
Gearing Up for Graduate School
Gearing Up for Medical School

Questions about this series should be addressed to broadpad@broadinstitute.org.

The NextGen Association for Postdocs and Grad Students is excited to host a discussion of Siddhartha Mukherjee’s Pullitzer Prize winning book, The Emperor of All Maladies: a Biography of Cancer.  The book is available on your Kindle, from your local library, and 107 Smoots away at the MIT Coop, among other venues.

To participate, all you have to do is read the book.  And you don’t even need to read the whole book, just one part that will at least begin the discussion (Section II, about 100 pages) — although our strong suspicion is that you’ll want to read the whole book, it is really good!

The discussion will take place on April 2, 12:00-1:00, in the Monadnock Room (7CC, 2nd Floor).

Relay for Life is a night for the entire community to come together. It is 12 hours of free food, fun, and team activities, as well as a celebration of those affected by cancer – survivors, caretakers, friends, family, and individuals currently fighting the disease. Throughout the night, there will be live performances by MIT student groups, workshops, fun and games, and speakers including Senior Associate Member Tyler Jacks.