Shoba Subramanian

About Shoba Subramanian

Working at the interface of industry and higher education, I build research partnerships to drive innovation and develop & deploy workforce programs to empower the next generation of STEM professionals. In the past, as an academic, I have driven innovative reforms at the undergraduate, graduate, and postdoc level. My work is informed by my training in and contributions to scientific research, and complemented by my in-depth experiences in science teaching, pedagogy work, curriculum development, career & professional development scholarship, thousands of hours in individual advising, and hands-on administrative leadership. With my advocacy and contributions, I continue to innovate by bringing bold ideas to fruition. Ultimately, my hope is that my work will push boundaries toward an equitable society.Descriptive Biography:Currently, I am the Head of University Partnerships at Amazon FTR. My goals here are to: 1) help cross pollinate research between university and Amazon scientists, 2) create scalable workforce development mechanisms, 3) support new education and curriculum pathways.Previously, I was a Clinical Associate Professor and inaugural Director of Curriculum & Educational Initiatives at the University of Michigan (UM). I built and launched a Career & Professional Development Office to support >1200 grad and postdoc trainees. We changed the culture under my leadership by offering weekly workshops, 1:1 advising infrastructures, and several annual cohort-program series. In parallel, I led a new research project teasing out mentoring perceptions vs practices in biomedical training. At UM, I was an inaugural RISE fellow and fellow PI on an NSF IGE grant.Prior to UM, I was Assistant Department Head and Assistant Teaching Professor at Carnegie Mellon University, where I served on leadership for undergraduate, masters, and PhD programs. My notable contributions include launching a new BS in Biological Sciences degree program at CMU-Qatar (in 2011) and leading transformations at the MS and PhD levels. I was the primary advisor for students through their entire arc of training for academic & career success. I founded and taught science courses and many professional skills courses and workshops. I received the Wimmer Faculty Award and the ProSEED Innovation Award at CMU.I am an elected member on the National Postdoc Association’s Board of Directors. I served on an elected role at the AAMC’s GREAT group. I volunteered on the Graduate Career Consortium’s Diversity Committee and Education Research Committee.ORCiD

Experience

1. Head, University Partnerships

   Amazon

   Jul 2024 — Present

   In my role as Head of University Partnerships at Amazon FTR, I lead a team in building and nurturing collaborations with universities to enhance tech outcomes and to build strong and diverse talent pipelines. By fostering new research initiatives and building scalable workforce initiatives, I create impact for both parties. I work with cross-functional teams across the company to create new mechanisms for better collaborations and leverage existing resources to drive outcomes for tech and talent.

Education

• Carnegie Mellon University

  PhD, Biological Sciences

• University of Mumbai

  BSc, Microbiology (Major) and Biotechnology (Minor)

• University of Madras

  MSc, Molecular Biology

Skills

• Career Counseling
• Cell Biology
• Lifesciences
• Protein Expression
• Western Blotting
• Pcr
• Molecular Cloning
• Science
• Biochemistry
• Curriculum Development
• Microscopy
• Teaching
• Research
• Genetics
• Microbiology
• Molecular Biology
• Fluorescence Microscopy
• Academic Advising
• Cell
• Scientific Writing
• Cell Culture