During her internship at a biopharmaceutical company, Tufts University student Brianna Starling gained hands-on experience by recording raw data in a laboratory. Although she was new to the organization, her role contributed directly to preparing new equipment for drug development. Reflecting on the experience, Starling said, “The stakes felt high. I started to understand how my academic training could fit into a much larger process.”
Starling, who studied biomedical engineering and later completed a master’s program at Tufts, was one of several students whose early careers were shaped by Project OnRamp. This national initiative aims to provide paid internships in life sciences to under-resourced and often first-generation college students. The goal is to address disparities in access to opportunities within biotech, pharmaceutical, and related industries.
Project OnRamp operates through partnerships with employers who reserve summer internships specifically for its students. These positions are not advertised publicly or filled via internal referrals; instead, companies select candidates from a curated pool with similar financial and educational backgrounds.
At Tufts University, Project OnRamp works closely with the Career Center. Staff members such as Sue Atkins, associate director of employer relations, help identify eligible students and support them throughout the application process. Career advisors assist with resume reviews and connect students to workshops and resources relevant to their interests.
Starling’s internship involved rotating among teams at a Cambridge-based biopharmaceutical company and learning new techniques while shadowing colleagues. She received additional support from Project OnRamp through workshops focused on professional communication and career planning. The university’s Career Center also helped her strengthen her résumé and prepare for interviews.
“Everything I learned during the internship set me up to apply for jobs in the real world,” Starling said. After graduation, she moved directly into a position in the pharmaceutical industry. She credited Project OnRamp for helping her develop confidence: “I would not have had the confidence to launch my career if it hadn’t been for Project OnRamp,” she said. “It taught me how to show up in the workforce.”
Jed Quiaoit also benefited from Project OnRamp during his time at Tufts. Unsure of his exact career path when he began university studies in biotechnology, Quiaoit secured two summer internships—one at Obsidian Therapeutics and another at Pfizer—through the program. These experiences gave him exposure to various aspects of drug development beyond research alone.
“I learned that research is just one piece of it,” Quiaoit said. “There’s regulation, project management, writing, data science—so many other paths within the field.” He noted that mentorship received during his internships helped him make more informed decisions about his future: “By the time I graduated, I no longer felt like an outsider trying to break in,” he said.
For Oluchi Ezekwenna, participation in Project OnRamp prompted a change in plans originally centered on medical school. Through an internship focused on immunotherapy and cancer research at a biotech company, she developed advanced laboratory skills that later supported her graduate research work at Tufts.
“The paper was a culmination of everything I learned during my internship,” Ezekwenna said regarding her published master’s thesis project. She maintained contact with mentors met during her internship who continued supporting her academic journey.
Encouragement from these mentors led Ezekwenna to consider doctoral study; she now works in research at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center while applying to Ph.D programs. “I never would have considered the path I’m on if it hadn’t been for my conversations with the people I met during my internship,” she said.
Collectively, these stories demonstrate how Project OnRamp provides both technical training and workplace readiness through paid industry placements paired with mentoring and campus support structures.
Starling summarized: “It helped me understand how things really work—how to communicate, how to carry myself, how to be professional in different spaces… It made everything that came after possible.”
