Beth Ann Murphy is a scientist whose career spans more than three decades in the pharmaceutical and life sciences biotech sectors. She was appointed as the Life Sciences Coordinator and Instructor of Professional Practice for Rutgers Professional Sciences Master’s Program in December 2019. In addition to being an active Rutgers faculty member, she is also founder of BAM Consulting, LLC—the mission of which is to share industry knowledge with scientist-entrepreneurs to help advance their ideas from concept to market—transforming ideas and innovations into commercialized products. In addition to a 25-year career as a research scientist at Merck & Co., Dr. Murphy held leadership and advisory positions at several startup /spinoffs that had their geneses in academic laboratories. She has extensive and holistic experiences in all aspects of drug discovery and development across multiple disease disciplines, and has contributed the success of innumerable drug discovery programs.
Dr. Murphy earned her bachelor’s degree from Muhlenberg College, her master’s degree from Seton Hall University, and her doctorate from Rutgers University where she completed her doctoral degree while also maintaining a full-time position at Merck. She was awarded, by Merck, a prestigious, two-year paid sabbatical to complete her Ph.D. studies. This highly competitive honor is granted to select employees ranking in the top 5 percent of applicants company wide. To supplement her vast scientific skills, Dr. Murphy completed an ACPE-accredited clinical research training program and was granted a certificate in BiotechPharma Innovation from Rutgers Business School.
Dr. Murphy is a member of numerous professional organizations including the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Association for Women in Science, and the New York Academy of Sciences. She is a regular study section member for the National Institutes of Health SBIR/STTR grant program for the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. She is an adjunct instructor with the National Science Foundation-sponsored Innovation Corps entrepreneurial training program. Dr. Murphy is the author of over 25 scientific papers published in peer review journals. She is passionate about promoting roles to advance equality for women in STEM-based fields and has spent significant time blending her industry experience and academic knowledge to develop and expand STEM education and STEM-based curricula. She has provided career-long mentorship to girls and women interested in careers in science. When her nose is not in a science book, Dr. Murphy is a history buff who is particularly fascinated by the Tudor period. She is also an avid traveler whose goal is to travel to all seven continents (three down, four to go).