Gaining Firsthand Industry Expeience at Regeneron

Author: Esperanza Rosas, PhD Candidate, The RNA Institute, UAlbany

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals is a biotechnology company that develops innovative medicines for serious diseases and plays a major role in the Capital Region of New York as a leading employer and driver of biomedical research and economic growth. The following graduate students from the RNA Institute recently completed co-op placements and internships at Regeneron applying their academic training to industry-scale research while learning new skills and career lessons.

ASMER ALIYEVA

Asmer Aliyeva - Cell line Characterization using RNA sequencing and bioinformatics tools for potency assay development.

As a fourth year PhD candidate, the time for planning your next career move begins. For Asmer Aliyeva, this planning began during a conversation with her P.I., Dr. Andy Berglund, regarding what her future plans were. Asmer has always had interest in industry research especially as her peer have always mentioned how vastly different academic research is from industry. Noting her interest, her advisor suggested to consider applying to an internship. On Regeneron’s website, Aliyeva had the opportunity both internships and Co-Ops. The Co-Op position offered the opportunity to collaborate and longer program length. Asmer opted for the co-op position with Regeneron’s Quality Control- Development and Analytical Sciences teams. In her application, Asmer highlighted her various RNA research skills such as experience with cell culture, library preparation, RNA sequencing analysis, and R programming. After a series of interviews, she was notified she had received the position. The beginning of her Co-Op began with orientation, QC onboarding, various seminars, and hand-on training. “During my time at Regeneron I worked with two different teams. My project was a collaboration between two teams who were both interested in cell line characterization. The goal of my project was characterizing different cell lines using bioinformatics tools. This data will help the team to identify the best growth conditions for various cell lines and be used for further assay development.” In addition to characterization, Asmer also had the opportunity to learn different bioinformatic tools. “Being from a lab that uses a lot of RNA sequencing and prepares Next Generation Sequencing libraries, I already had skills that the managers were interested in. I feel that's why they hired me because I had those skills. What this Co-Op gave me was the opportunity to further enhance them . For example, here I would prepare the libraries and send them for sequencing now I know how to sequence the samples myself.  I also learned how to use Python, how to get rid of batch effects, and other programs to run differential gene expression.”  This research experience not only allowed for opportunity to enhance a new skill set but to also network with industry professionals. Aliyeva notes her team was friendly, supportive and approachable and were among the attendees for RNA Day 2025. Her advice to future applicants “I would just say to not be scared just to apply. When I was applying to various internships part of me was thinking that I will never get a call back.  However, after completing my experience, I now know companies are really open to teaching people and  helping them to learn different skills. Now I would definitely say if you can, take the time to apply for an internship or Co-Op . This Co-Op has been one of the best experiences I have ever done. It taught me a lot of things and while it's a big company, but  knowing that there are people who know you, and who will, you know, be your reference point that's amazing.”

CAMRYN BECKLES

Camryn Beckles- Instrument qualification and Methods development

For Camryn Beckles, Chemistry M.S student in the Halverson Lab, academic research has been home. As she began to wrap up her M.S. degree and enter the job market a tour at Regeneron’s campus gave her an opportunity to delve into pharmaceutical research. On the tour one of the Regeneron’s university relations team members told the group about the internship and Co-Op programs. Students could then share their resumes and obtain more information regarding this opportunity. This led to Camryn contemplating the possibility of a career in pharmaceuticals. After completing the application process which included a self-guided video interview and eventually a Zoom call interview. Camryn secured a Co-Op position. Prior to starting the internship, she already had the experience of being an independent scientist, as well as  good communication and teambuilding skills which proved invaluable during her time at Regeneron. Camryn was now part of the Analytic Sciences team in the department of Quality Control. “At Regeneron, they use proteins in their drug product. In order to confidently verify the identity of the protein of interest fluorescence spectroscopy is used as a characterization tool. For my project, I worked on getting a newer spectrofluorometer qualified so all protocols could be performed on the newer instrument instead of the legacy instrument. Over the course of the Co-Op, I performed scouting experiments and method development on the newer instrument to get it qualified for future protein characterization. This project was essentially me figuring out how the instrument and the software worked. My goal was to develop ideal protocols for analysts to use once the instrument is qualified.” She was able to strengthen was her communication skills as she often was required to attend weekly meetings with her manager, as well as team meetings. “Any ideas that I had;  I was able to  put forward. I think I definitely did learn how to  manage my time too, because I would have weekly meetings with my manager and  two other people that were on the team to try to get this instrument qualified. During these meetings I was able to show my team progress that I was making as well having discussion about things that they potentially wanted me to do because they knew what was necessary for the instrument to reach the qualification status.  They had suggestions on things that they thought would be beneficial for me to try. By the end of the Co-Op, I had the chance to reflect on how much work my team and I did. I also learned a lot of patience, because it does take significant effort to reach qualification.” This Co-Op position gave Camryn the opportunity to strengthen skills she already had but also to have the experience of being a full-time employee. Now, as Camryn enters the job market, she knows the ins and outs of industry research.

KARLY SUHR

Karly Suhr- Instrument Qualification and Protein Aggregation

Coursework often becomes a distant past as academic research progresses. Karly Suhr, an M.S. student in the Wang Lab who recently completed a Co-Op at Regeneron, found how her degree fit in an industry setting. “Most of the knowledge I came into this experience with was from my classes. Having the foundational knowledge from my coursework such as how different instruments work or general concepts allow me to make sense of what was happening. My current research involves organic synthesis, and my first-hand knowledge of column chromatography was applicable during my time at Regeneron. She first heard about Regeneron’s Co-Op program from Dr. Alan Chen. “He has a very strong affiliation with Regeneron, and he introduced me to both the co-op internship programs. I was also able to hear about the experiences of previous students who had completed the internship which prompted me to apply.” During her tenure at Regeneron, Karly worked with the Quality Control- Analytical Sciences: Chemistry Development in Rensselaer campus. “During the co-op program, I worked on a new MALS system that they had, with multi-angle light scattering. I was involved in setting up this new system in order to determine how well it would work for detecting protein aggregation. Some of the skills I was able to learn were biochemistry related and different software such as Vision and Astra. I also got to experience troubleshooting new technology.” With regular weekly team meetings and monthly group meetings, Karly observed firsthand how crucial the documentation process is. “It's very interesting how much networking and communication occurs. I work not only with my group but other different teams and people within quality control across different sites even. I worked in Rensselaer, and we would often work with teams from Terrytown.
Being a part of a collaborative project with people from different disciplines, it becomes very important to clearly communicate your data. It very much is a team-oriented company, which is really nice because they really want to make sure that you have as much time to work on your project and network.” Karly has shared that because of this experience she can feel confident in her decision to pursue a career in industry. “Prior to the Co-Op, I only had some assumptions of what industry looked like, but it was nothing how I assumed. I figured it was just kind of academic research, just on a larger scale. By completing this experience, I have now seen the business side of industry and how it is just as important as the research that you're doing. Now that I have expanded my skill set and have gained industry research experience, I know what to expect as a full-time industry chemist.”

JARED ROGALSKI

Jared Rogalski- Bioassay and Potency testing

As an undergraduate student, Jared Rogalski, came across Regeneron’s internship program during a career panel for student athletes at UAlbany through the athletic department. This past summer Jared, M.S. student in the Sammon’s lab, had the opportunity to return to Regeneron as a graduate student intern with the Quality Control- Analytical Sciences team “The first time around, I worked on ELISAs which was a good project as it was my first introduction to industry research. This summer, I just dived right into a complex project where I have a lot to show for and have learned so much more.” Jared’s project involved potency assay development. “I was in the Quality Control in a group called Analytical Sciences, and I was in the bioassay development group. This group develops potency assays that reflect what the drug molecule does. My project was using a new piece of technology similar to a live cell imager, and I was doing background work on a molecule they developed.” Some of the goals Jared was tasked with include testing different conditions with the cell line and performing potency assays. When asked about his team Jared noted his team was supportive as many of the team members had previously been his peers. “They had high aspirations and high hopes for my summer experience. They were excited for me to start this project, and I felt they also shared my eagerness about my internship. They were so encouraging and helpful along the whole way.” By participating in an internship Jared felt this experience has granted him a closer insight into what it takes to work in industry and what the atmosphere is like. With this, Rogalski advises future applicants to apply as early as you can and attend as many events as you can during your internship. “While the internship is hard work, it is a really rewarding experience especially in the end when you're doing all the presentations.”