Sophie Dutheil (2007 graduate)

Your career path after graduating from the master's ?

From 2007 to 2012, I did a Ph.D. in the Integrative and Adaptive Neuroscience (NIA) laboratory, at the 3C Pole, in Marseille. My research focused on post-lesional plasticity and neurogenesis in adults. Meanwhile I was a tutor then a lecturer, which was a very nice experience.

Then I spent 3 1/2 years as a postdoc at Yale University, in the Northeastern United States, where I worked on a different subject : the relationship between type 2 diabetes and depression. Working on a different model and getting out of my comfort zone has been very rewarding.

In the summer of 2015, I applied to Intra-Cellular Therapies, Inc., a pharmaceutical company based in Manhattan, New York, and I was hired, despite the fact that I needed a new work visa (it delays the hiring process for several months and is very costly to the company).

What are your duties?

I am part of the chain that leads to the development of new drugs. Our company seeks better treatments for patients with psychiatric disorders or neurodegenerative diseases.

What aspects of your work do you like the most?

I love constantly learning on various topics, finding new ideas, creating, explore new paths. What I especially like in industry is the team dynamism, as well as its solidarity. Everybody works together : I found at Intra-Cellular Therapies, Inc., a cohesion between colleagues stronger than what I had previously experienced.

Interviewed in March 2016