Nick Angeloni, PhD
Graduation Year: 2012
Advisor: Podlasek
Current Position: Director of Research Analytics, University of Illinois Chicago
Nick Angeloni grew up in Berwyn, IL, in the western Chicago suburbs. He majored in biology at Loyola University Chicago before joining the DGP in 2006. He worked with Dr. Carol Podlasek in the Department of Urology.
What made you want to go to graduate school?
I went into college thinking I would be pre-med and continue on to medical school. But after learning more about the field, I decided it wasn’t for me. I still loved biology and the life sciences, and I had spent four years as an undergraduate researcher at Loyola in the lab of Dr. John Kelly. I knew a PhD would be a better fit and allow me to contribute to science in a way that matched my skills and interest level.
What brought you to Northwestern and the IGP/DGP?
I wanted to stay in Chicago and the Midwest to be close to family, and applying to Northwestern was a no brainer! I really liked the variety of focused clusters in biomedical science, since I wanted to contribute to medicine via research. I was offered admission to three different institutions, but Northwestern just felt like home. I really liked the culture and the people in the program. I quickly made friends with other students, many of whom I am still close to today!
What did you study in graduate school?
I joined the lab of Dr. Carol Podlasek in the Department of Urology. My dissertation focused on a protein called Sonic hedgehog (named for the video game character) and its potential role as a therapeutic to treat erectile dysfunction as a result of prostatectomy or diabetes. We collaborated with Dr. Samuel Stupp’s group to develop biomaterials called peptide amphiphiles into a delivery vehicle for Sonic hedgehog to promote nerve and tissue regeneration. During my time as a grad student, I was co-author on 7 different publications and was first author on four of them.
Did you do a postdoc? What did you study?
After graduation, I stayed with the Department of Urology at Northwestern, joining the lab of Dr. C. Shad Thaxton. My work in his group continued the theme of nanotechnology and focused on synthetic high density lipoprotein nanoparticles (HDL NPs) and their interaction with an HDL receptor called scavenger receptor type B1. This receptor plays a key role in many human diseases, such as cancer and cardiovascular disease, and we studied the ability of the nanoparticles to modulate the activity of this receptor and potentially treat these conditions. While I was a postdoc, I knew I likely wouldn’t pursue an academic, tenure-track position, so I looked for ways to get experience away from the bench. One way to do this was to learn more about research administration, particularly the proposal submission process, financial planning, and compliance needs like IRB, IACUC, and Research Safety. This was important experience that led to my first role outside of academic research.
Can you tell me more about how you found opportunities to learn more about research administration?
These were extra opportunities that I sought out inside my lab. Another postdoc and I were really interested in learning more about the management/administrative side of research. For instance, I started regularly meeting with Shad and the research admin team that supported our lab to review budget status of our grants, forecast expenses for the next quarter, and create the administrative section for upcoming proposal submissions. During the course of that work the RA team taught me a lot about how sponsored research functions at the university, learning about things like allowable costs, over the cap, indirect costs, and other regulatory/compliance needs. Most importantly for my future career, I also learned how to use the financial and business intelligence systems. This is where I first started running financial reports and working with the data going into the reports, which was my first foray into working with research analytics.
Similar situation for IRB and IACUC. I was responsible for submitting protocols and amendments, and working with the teams in those offices to get studies up and running and monitoring them while they were underway. This is also when I started to appreciate that IRB, IACUC, and sponsored research don't exist to make life harder for researchers, they're here to protect us and make sure we don't do something that will get our lab and our institution in the news for the wrong reasons!
What was your first job outside of academic research, and how did you get it?
This was yet again at Northwestern, this time in an administrative position within the Office for Research. I served as Director of Strategic Planning and Coordination, which involved leading special projects that promoted the growth of Northwestern’s research portfolio in collaboration with Fruma Yehiely, the Associate Vice President for Research in charge of research development. This position eventually evolved into a focus on how data, metrics, and analytics can inform this work, and I was promoted to the inaugural Director of Research Analytics under Senior Associate Vice President for Research Ann Adams. I was successful in obtaining these positions not only because of my grad school and postdoc training but also due to the experiences I had with research administration plus my work with groups like the Chicago Graduate Student Association (CGSA) and the Northwestern University Postdoctoral Forum (NUPF, now NUPA).
What is your current position? Please describe the big picture of your position as well as a bit about the day-to-day.
At the end of 2023, I accepted a position as Director of Research Analytics at the University of Illinois Chicago, starting up the Research Analytics unit in the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research. The big picture of the role is to serve as an expert for anything data- or metrics-related concerning the performance of our research portfolio and to support data-informed decision making by our leadership. These are not data coming from our labs but rather data coming from the administrative side, such as the number of proposals we submit, the number and dollars of awards we receive, the amount of research expenditures, turnaround times, number of research publications, collaborations, and so on. We can slice these data multiple ways and present it by college, department, funding sponsor, and more. We also develop resources such as dashboards and standardized reports to make sure metrics are communicated in a timely and easy-to-interpret fashion. It’s important to develop metrics around these data so leadership is aware of our research strengths and can identify areas for growth and development. They ask a lot of specific questions, so the day-to-day is very different! One day our vice chancellor may be considering devoting startup funding to launch a new research center and asks for information on the names of faculty members and the amount of funding we receive for the area of research the center would be supporting. Another day, we may be trying to optimize a business process and need to report on how long it takes for certain types of awards to be set up, so we can identify portions of the process that could be improved. There is always a new challenge, and no possibility for boredom!
How did Northwestern prepare you for your current career?
Northwestern and the DGP gave me many opportunities to prepare. Obviously, PhD students work with a lot of data and, in many ways, the approach to analyzing it in my current role is very similar. Critical thinking and the ability to test a hypothesis are essential skills that are highly relevant and still serve me well in my current position. (Persistence in the face of adversity is another key skill!) Outside of my formal training, participating in CGSA and NUPF also helped a great deal. I planned and coordinated large events that let me build soft skills essential for my current role, such as managing others, budgeting, and negotiating and coordinating with external partners to reach a common goal. Finally, The Graduate School and Kellogg offered programs that gave me additional training that is very useful for an administrative position, such as the Management for Scientists and Engineers program (now called Management for PhDs).
What other experiences brought you to your current position?
Networking was key, not only with finding my current role but also figuring out what I wanted to do after graduate school. I knew I did not want to pursue a tenure track career, liked working with data, and was interested in going down a path related to business, but still wanted to contribute to promoting science and research. I thought consulting was the only route, but after speaking with research administrators at Northwestern and learning more about how data is becoming increasingly important in that field, I realized that staying in academia in an administrative role focused on using data and analytics to support strategic planning would be a great fit for my interests and talents.
What advice would you give to current students interested in pursuing a career similar to yours?
The basic toolbox for data analytics in an administrative role overlaps a lot with data analytics needed for bench research, so take the time to learn programming languages like Python, R, and SQL. Supplement those hard skills by looking for opportunities within your lab to learn more about research administration and operations. Chances are your advisor will be happy to offload the work! You can volunteer to help put together the administrative portions of a proposal or create a dashboard that monitors lab expenses. Build your soft skills by getting involved with organizations like CGSA and NUPA and help plan programming and large events. This is also a great way to get to know your colleagues and network, especially if you put together a panel for one of those groups and invite panelists who are working in a field that interests you!
Do you have any final advice for graduate students?
It’s okay to be working on your PhD and know you would like to pursue a career outside academic research. The skills you develop will still be in demand and of use for other career paths. Use the resources that the DGP and Northwestern make available to you to find the direction that is right for you.