These two bar graphs show the “Average Time to Degree” (Left), and “Attrition Rate” (Right). Values (“Time to Ph.D.” (Left), and “% Attrition” (Right)) are plotted on the Y-axis, and Matriculation years are plotted on the X-axis. Average time to degree has been relatively constant at around 5.5 years. We have seen a decline in the attrition rate of students.
| Average Time to Degree | ||
|---|---|---|
| Matriculation Year | Years to degree | Standard deviation |
| 1987-2000 | 5.77 | 0.5 |
| 2001-2005 | 6.1 | 0.6 |
| 2006-2010 | 5.79 | 0.45 |
| 2011-2015 | 5.67 | 0.66 |
| 2016-2020 | 5.38 | 0.49 |
| Attrition Rate | |
|---|---|
| Matriculation Year | Percent Attrition |
| 2001-2005 | 20% |
| 2006-2010 | 18% |
| 2011-2015 | 3% |
| 2016-2020 | 6% |
| 2021-2025 | 3% |
Our graduates have gone on to build successful careers. This chart shows the positions held in 2024 by students who graduated between 2019-2024 and all students who graduated from the program to date. In the past five years, most of our graduates continued to postdoctoral positions in academia and industry. Overall, most of our alumni are using their training in their current positions.
These two pie charts show the positions held in 2024 by Genetics & Genomics program students who graduated between 2019-2024 (left, total: 74 students) and all students who graduated from the program to date (right, total: 315 students). The number percent of students in each category are depicted in each chart. Numerical values represented on each chart are as follows. Left: Faculty (3 percent), Industry (16 percent), Postdoc (38 percent), Medicine (12 percent), Biomed Research (15 percent), Government (4 percent), Other (12 percent). Right: Faculty (22 percent), Industry (22 percent), Postdoc (17 percent), Medicine (11 percent), Biomed Research (11 percent), Government (3 percent), Other (14 percent).
| 2019-2024 Alumni | All Alumni (1990-2024) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Percent of students | Number of students | Percent of students | Number of students | |
| Faculty | 2.7 | 2 | 22.2 | 70 |
| Industry | 16.2 | 12 | 22.2 | 70 |
| Postdoc | 37.8 | 28 | 16.8 | 53 |
| Medicine | 12.2 | 9 | 10.5 | 33 |
| Biomed Research | 14.9 | 11 | 10.8 | 34 |
| Government | 4.1 | 3 | 3.2 | 10 |
| Other | 12.2 | 9 | 14.3 | 45 |
| Total number of students | 74 | Total number of students | 315 | |
Career Paths
Wherever your ambitions lie, you will receive the support you need to follow a path well-worn by BCM alumni who have built successful careers across diverse endeavors. The following lists provide an update on where some of our graduate students went after completion of their Ph.D. program at Baylor College of Medicine.
| Name | Current Position |
|---|---|
| Daniel Amador-Noguez, Ph.D. | Associate Professor-University of Wisconsin-Madison |
| Kent Anderson, M.D., Ph.D. | Associate Professor, The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. |
| Jose Badano, Ph.D. | Head of Human Molecular Genetics Laboratory, Institut Pasteur de Montevideo, Montevideo, Uruguay |
| Milam Brantley, M.D., Ph.D. | Associate Professor, Vanderbilt Eye Institute |
| Kathleen Burns, M.D., Ph.D. | Professor, Harvard Medical School Chair, Department of Pathology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute |
| Maria Chahrour, Ph.D. | Associate Professor, UT Southwestern Medical School |
| Varuna Chander, Ph.D. | Director, Business Development, Strategic Partnerships |
| Hilary Chester | Postdoctoral Associate, Duke University |
| Stephanie Coffin, Ph.D. | Associate Director, Program and Portfolio Management at Denali Therapeutics |
| Evan Eichler, Ph.D. | Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator and a Professor, University of Washington School of Medicine. Named Distinguished Baylor College of Medicine Alumnus, The Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences in 2009 |
| Benjamin J. Frankfort, M.D., Ph.D. | Chair, University of North Carolina |
| Nikhita Gogate | Laboratory Genetics and Genomics Fellow, Stanford University |
| Laura Heckman, Ph.D. | Executive Vice President, Translational Sciences at Leal Therapeutics |
| Brooke Horist | Laboratory Genetics and Genomics Fellow, Duke University |
| Kaumudi Joshi, Ph.D | Principal Program Manager at Genentech (gRED) |
| Celina Jones, Ph.D. | Assistant Teaching Professor, Wake Forest University |
| Anupama Khare, Ph.D. | Stadtman Tenure Track Investigator, National Cancer Institute Center for Cancer Research |
| Emily LaPlante, Ph.D. | Scientific Portfolio Manager, Break Through Cancer |
| Xuwen Li, Ph.D. | Bioinformatics Scientist II, Guardant Health |
| Koenraad Norga, Ph.D | Head of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Clinic, Antwerp University |
| Tomoko Oyama, Ph.D. | Associate Professor, McGill University |
| Edwin J. Ostrin, M.D., Ph.D. | Associate Professor, New York University |
| Janel Peterson | Postdoctoral Associate, University of Rochester |
| Akhila Rajan, Ph.D. | Associate Professor, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center |
| Morgan Stephens | Engineering Project Manager, Paradromics |
| Adam Weinstein | Scientist, Alamar Biosciences, Inc. |
| Jiaqian Wu, Ph.D. | Professor, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston |
| Binhai Zheng, Ph.D. | Professor, University of California, San Diego |
Alumni in the News
- Read about Baylor Alum, Wanda (Lemna) O'Neal's career-long dedication to cystic fibrosis, a disease that has plagued her own family.
- Read about 2025 Young Alumnus Recipient Dr. Pengfei Liu.
Career Development
Workshops, seminars and courses offered through the Career Development Center help students explore the many career paths open to individuals with a Ph.D. The Center’s experienced staff helps students find opportunities to gain experience and build connections that match their career interests. They also work one-on-one with students to help them define and reach their goals.
Growing Up Baylor
After earning his Ph.D. in genetics from BCM, Dr. William Decker stayed at the College to build a successful career in biomedical research.