Tannya Cai, B.S. 2016

Strategy Manager, New Markets, Benchling – San Francisco, CA

2016 Major: Biology and Economics

How has being a Biology graduate from Duke helped shape you personally and/or professionally?

"My current company, Benchling, is a B2B software startup for life sciences and biotech companies. As such, my role requires knowledge of life sciences research and workflows. My experience with the Duke Biology program and my research work at Duke has helped me substantially in my work, relating more easily to customers and ramping up more quickly in this industry. Even my colleagues in other functions like marketing, client consulting, and customer success have benefitted from similar life sciences exposure. Prior to Benchling, my work has involved digital health, both on the startup and investing side. The Duke Biology program gave me foundational knowledge to understand scientific challenges around health care and where digital health might provide a solution. This has been tremendously helpful in my prior work as well."

What advice would you give students in Duke's Biology programs? 

"Don’t be afraid to branch out and explore the intersection of biology and life sciences with other disciplines (such as technology in my case). Many roles benefit from having biology knowledge, even those that you may not expect."

Cai