Cole Ayasse, MS'14, Neuroscience; PhD'19, Psychology
Clinical Outcome Assessment Scientist, Critical Path Institute
April 1, 2026
Can you describe your career path and how it has led to your current work?
After finishing the PhD, I did a postdoc for a year while trying to decide which direction I wanted to go in. The pandemic hit then, which may have helped send me towards industry. I talked to another Brandeis PhD alum, from Anthropology actually, who went into consulting for patient-centered outcomes research. This field entails looking at outcomes used in clinical trials or other health research, that are based on how patients feel, function, or survive. The field combines qualitative and quantitative research. When I talked to the other alum, it turned out there were openings at her company on the quantitative side, and I applied for and got a job there. In the role, I used a lot of skills I learned from the PhD, although less of the specific content. While the content of my PhD is still central to my work, I’ve used more of it as my career has continued and I’ve worked more frequently on neuroscience- and cognition-related projects. When I first started in this field, I didn’t have a lot of experience in psychometrics, but my solid statistics and quantitative foundation helped me to make that transition.
I worked in that consulting role for about three years before moving to my current position. The company where I work now is a nonprofit that tries to bring people to one table to try to solve problems together and foster “pre-competitive collaboration.” We bring together regulators, pharma companies, consultants, academics, advocates, and people with lived experience to help with tools and projects that are broadly helpful across the field. For example, if several companies are having the same problem creating treatments for the same condition, we work on solving the problem or creating tools to help. I function as a sort of internal consultant. I am a resource to the broader company for different groups working on projects that touch on clinical outcome assessment or measurement. I also work on the quantitative aspects of projects or talk them through with people. Within my own team, I work on quantitative tasks, help review others’ data, or conduct analysis. I wear a lot of hats but not in a bad way!
What does a typical day/week look like for you in this position?
It varies more than in my prior job. I have a lot of really long-term projects that started before I got here and will take several years in total. Most weeks, I spend some time doing analysis and coding with R. I also spend a lot of time reviewing documents (reports, raw output, analysis plans, and protocols). I sometimes work on analysis alongside contractors or consultants and review their work. I also talk with others about our broader strategy and how things fit together.
What skills from your Brandeis degree have you found most valuable in your current work?
Most obviously, my technical skills – these are probably what I use the most frequently. But there’s also the ability to think about and approach a problem at multiple levels: both to zoom out and see the bigger picture and to go further into the details. Having a background like mine in experimental research, which is unusual on my team, has also been very helpful in figuring out how to solve some of the problems we run into. The people that I work most closely with have different educational backgrounds, and we each bring different strengths to the table.
What advice do you have for current students as they embark on their career exploration or job search?
Start thinking about it early. Every alum told me this, and it’s hard to put into practice, but the earlier you start considering the process, the easier it gets. Plan for more time than you think you’ll need to find your first position, especially if you don’t have a lot of prior work experience outside of academia. Talk to people. I got both of my positions in this field by talking to someone who knew of an opening. Figuring out how to talk to people when looking for a job is weird and awkward, but the more you do it, the easier it is to figure out, and it ends up being worth the time. Even before you go on the job market, talk to people about figuring out your options, how they got where they are, and if their field might be a fit for you. Finally, don’t be afraid of the academia to industry transition. People can feel like they’re giving up things they love about academic research, but I really love my position and the research I do now. There can be jobs you can really love.