Dr. Cynthia Fuhrmann has more than 17 years of experience directing programs in professional skills training and career planning for early-career biomedical scientists, including at University of California San Francisco (with a focus on future faculty) and at UMassChan. During her ten years as the founding Assistant Dean for Career and Professional Development in the UMass Chan Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, she founded the Center for Biomedical Career Development, dedicated to taking a scholarly approach to innovating and evaluating professional development training for scientists. Dr. Fuhrmann's innovations--several developed to be incorporated directly into the PhD curriculum--have been funded by the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, and Burroughs Wellcome Fund. Dr. Fuhrmann speaks nationally on the incorporation of career and professional development into predoctoral and postdoctoral training, and leads workshops on creating an Individual Development Plan (among other topics). She co-developed and co-authored myIDP, the first interactive career-planning website for scientists. Hosted by AAAS with more than 250,000 users worldwide, myIDP assists early-career scientists with exploring career options, making career decisions, and creating an Individual Development Plan for achieving their goals. Dr. Fuhrmann has been active in national policy related to the career development of scientists. Her 2011 study on the career interests of biomedical PhD students contributed pre- and post-publication to the growing national dialogue on the training needs of PhD scientists. Dr. Fuhrmann serves on external advisory boards for the Association of American Universities’ PhD Education Initiative, NSF Innovations in Graduate Education Acceleration Hub, and numerous federally-funded training programs, and is active in the Graduate Career Consortium, AAMC GREAT Group, and NIH BEST Consortium. She serves on the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine's Roundtable on Mentorship, Well-being, and Professional Development. Her engagement with a diverse array of organizations has informed her role leading Professional Development Hub, a national initiative working across stakeholders to advance PhD career development in the sciences.
Clifford PS, Fuhrmann CN, Lindstaedt B, Hobin JA
Clifford PS, Fuhrmann CN, Lindstaedt B, Hobin JA. An individual development plan will help you get where you want to go. Physiologist. 2013 Mar; 56(2):43-4.
An individual development plan will help you get where you want to go.
Mathur A, Meyers FJ, Chalkley R, O'Brien TC, Fuhrmann CN
Mathur A, Meyers FJ, Chalkley R, O'Brien TC, Fuhrmann CN. Transforming training to reflect the workforce. Sci Transl Med. 2015 Apr 29; 7(285):285ed4.
Transforming training to reflect the workforce.
Additional information about lab rotations within the CPHR program can be found athttp://www.umassmed.edu/cphr/program/rotations.aspx
Background for Student Rotation Projects <p >See Politz, Hogan and Pederson (2009) and Politz et al. (2005) in the above list. The novel microRNA work may be the most suitable for student rotations. Potential Rotation Projects <p >Are the nucleolar microRNAs pri-, pre- or mature? <p >Are they complexed with other nucleolar RNAs? <p >Do the cell cycle related proteins in the nucleolus exist as heterotypic complexes? <p >Does the nucleolus of human embryonic stem cells also share these features (which we have so far looked for, and found, only in transformed human cell lines)? <p >Can vanadium tagging be used to detect specific proteins by electron microscopy, perhaps exceeding the limitations of immuno-EM?
Meyers FJ, Mathur A, Fuhrmann CN, O'Brien TC, Wefes I, Labosky PA, Duncan DS, August A, Feig A, Gould KL, Friedlander MJ, Schaffer CB, Van Wart A, Chalkley R
FASEB journal : official publication of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology
Meyers FJ, Mathur A, Fuhrmann CN, O'Brien TC, Wefes I, Labosky PA, Duncan DS, August A, Feig A, Gould KL, Friedlander MJ, Schaffer CB, Van Wart A, Chalkley R. The origin and implementation of the Broadening Experiences in Scientific Training programs: an NIH common fund initiative. FASEB J. 2016 Feb; 30(2):507-14.
The origin and implementation of the Broadening Experiences in Scientific Training programs: an NIH common fund initiative.
Fuhrmann CN. Enhancing Graduate and Postdoctoral Education To Create a Sustainable Biomedical Workforce. Hum Gene Ther. 2016 11; 27(11):871-879.
Enhancing Graduate and Postdoctoral Education To Create a Sustainable Biomedical Workforce.
University of California, Davis, Chemistry
University of California, San Francisco, Biochemistry & Molecular Bio
Population and Quantitative Health Sciences
Stayart CA, Brandt PD, Brown AM, Dahl T, Layton RL, Petrie KA, Flores-Kim EN, Pe?a CG, Fuhrmann CN, Monsalve GC
Stayart CA, Brandt PD, Brown AM, Dahl T, Layton RL, Petrie KA, Flores-Kim EN, Pe?a CG, Fuhrmann CN, Monsalve GC. Applying inter-rater reliability to improve consistency in classifying PhD career outcomes. F1000Res. 2020; 9:8.
Applying inter-rater reliability to improve consistency in classifying PhD career outcomes.
Biochemistry and Molecular Biotechnology
Fuhrmann, C.N., Fenn, S., Hidalgo, D., Horowitz, B., Loring, H., Nayak, S., Spears, M., Weaver, G., Lane, M.E.
Creating the ‘new normal’: Career development embedded into the Ph.D. curriculum for all trainees
Fuhrmann, C.N., Fenn, S., Hidalgo, D., Horowitz, B., Loring, H., Nayak, S., Spears, M., Weaver, G., Lane, M.E. In: Infante Lara L, Daniel L, and Chalkley R, (eds). BEST: Implementing Career Development Activities for Biomedical Research Trainees. Creating the ‘new normal’: Career development embedded into the Ph.D. curriculum for all trainees. 2020; 171-181.
In: Infante Lara L, Daniel L, and Chalkley R, (eds). BEST: Implementing Career Development Activities for Biomedical Research Trainees
Bixenmann R., Natalizio B.J., Hussain Y., Fuhrmann C.N.
Bixenmann R., Natalizio B.J., Hussain Y., Fuhrmann C.N. Enhancing Dissemination of Evidence-Based Models for STEM PhD Career Development; a Stakeholder Workshop Report. 2020.
Enhancing Dissemination of Evidence-Based Models for STEM PhD Career Development; a Stakeholder Workshop Report
myIDP, an interactive career planning tool at ScienceCareers
Center for Biomedical Career Development
Chatterjee D, Jacob GA, Varvayanis SS, Wefes I, Chalkley R, Nogueira AT, Fuhrmann CN, Varadarajan J, Hubbard NM, Gaines CH, Layton RL, Chaudhary S
Chatterjee D, Jacob GA, Varvayanis SS, Wefes I, Chalkley R, Nogueira AT, Fuhrmann CN, Varadarajan J, Hubbard NM, Gaines CH, Layton RL, Chaudhary S. Career self-efficacy disparities in underrepresented biomedical scientist trainees. PLoS One. 2023; 18(3):e0280608.
Career self-efficacy disparities in underrepresented biomedical scientist trainees.
Chatterjee D, Nogueira AT, Wefes I, Chalkley R, Sturzenegger Varvayanis S, Fuhrmann CN, Varadarajan J, Jacob GA, Gaines CH, Hubbard NM, Chaudhary S, Layton RL
Chatterjee D, Nogueira AT, Wefes I, Chalkley R, Sturzenegger Varvayanis S, Fuhrmann CN, Varadarajan J, Jacob GA, Gaines CH, Hubbard NM, Chaudhary S, Layton RL. Citizenship status and career self-efficacy: An intersectional study of biomedical trainees in the United States. PLoS One. 2024; 19(3):e0296246.
Citizenship status and career self-efficacy: An intersectional study of biomedical trainees in the United States.
Joseph D. Early Chair in Biomedical Research
Yanai I, Bogler O, Carroll SB, Couch J, Dahlberg ML, Fuhrmann CN, Kaufman JC, Majumdar S, Oyler-Yaniv J, Priestley RD, Stearns T, Stern B, Vinson V, Yamamoto KR, Lercher MJ
Yanai I, Bogler O, Carroll SB, Couch J, Dahlberg ML, Fuhrmann CN, Kaufman JC, Majumdar S, Oyler-Yaniv J, Priestley RD, Stearns T, Stern B, Vinson V, Yamamoto KR, Lercher MJ. Teach creativity in science higher education. Science. 2024 08 23; 385(6711):837.
Teach creativity in science higher education.
Cheng AC, Chen WW, Fuhrmann CN, Frankel AD
Cheng AC, Chen WW, Fuhrmann CN, Frankel AD. Recognition of nucleic acid bases and base-pairs by hydrogen bonding to amino acid side-chains. J Mol Biol. 2003 Apr 04; 327(4):781-96.
Recognition of nucleic acid bases and base-pairs by hydrogen bonding to amino acid side-chains.
Fuhrmann CN, Kelch BA, Ota N, Agard DA. The 0.83 A resolution crystal structure of alpha-lytic protease reveals the detailed structure of the active site and identifies a source of conformational strain. J Mol Biol. 2004 May 14; 338(5):999-1013.
The 0.83 A resolution crystal structure of alpha-lytic protease reveals the detailed structure of the active site and identifies a source of conformational strain.
Journal of the American Chemical Society
Fuhrmann CN, Daugherty MD, Agard DA. Subangstrom crystallography reveals that short ionic hydrogen bonds, and not a His-Asp low-barrier hydrogen bond, stabilize the transition state in serine protease catalysis. J Am Chem Soc. 2006 Jul 19; 128(28):9086-102.
Subangstrom crystallography reveals that short ionic hydrogen bonds, and not a His-Asp low-barrier hydrogen bond, stabilize the transition state in serine protease catalysis.
Fuhrmann CN, Halme DG, O'Sullivan PS, Lindstaedt B
Fuhrmann CN, Halme DG, O'Sullivan PS, Lindstaedt B. Improving graduate education to support a branching career pipeline: recommendations based on a survey of doctoral students in the basic biomedical sciences. CBE Life Sci Educ. 2011; 10(3):239-49.
Improving graduate education to support a branching career pipeline: recommendations based on a survey of doctoral students in the basic biomedical sciences.