Her Story
About Salonee
Salonee Chavan is currently pursuing her PhD at Florida International University in Miami, Florida, after completing her bachelor's in pharmacy and master's degree from the University of Mississippi. She has accumulated 8 to 9 years of experience in the pharmaceutical field, including 2 years working in the industry and various internships where she built valuable connections. Her research involves preclinical studies characterized by daily experiments and trial and error. Chavan is a member of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists and an associate member of the Sigma Xi Research Honours Society, which she joined in 2025. She credits her family for their unwavering support through the challenges of research, such as experiments that do not yield expected results. Chavan emphasizes the importance of consistency, maintaining a balance between work and personal life, and pursuing hobbies like singing, painting, and martial arts. She advises young women entering science to pursue their passion without fear of challenges, noting that perseverance leads to positive outcomes.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Salonee
01What do you attribute your success to?
I would say my family, like, since they have been a keen part of my whole journey, like, they have been super supportive, and everything that I'm going through, like, some days are super hard, like, the challenges that I go through, but, like, they just keep me motivated, and I feel very grounded.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
I think I was surrounded by a lot of people who were, like, super motivating to me, because they are already an accomplished figures in their respective fields, so they just, they just kept me going with it, and, like, motivated me a lot. So, I think, yeah, that is something that I learned, and I also persevered a lot with whatever mentorship I was blessed with.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
If it really... if science, or if it is really something that you want to go for, like, just go for it, because don't be afraid of the challenges, because, there is always a way even when things don't work out. Like, that's what I've learned so far from my journey. So I would just want to say then that if you want to be a woman in science, just go for it, and it's just... it's just gonna be fine at the end.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
Because this is pharma, so we have a lot of drugs which are incompatible with a lot of, excipients, so, like, just... Researching and working with that to, have better formulations in the market that are more patient-centric is, like, the biggest challenge... biggest opportunity. I think there are so many roles, like, it's... there are different departments in this whole big umbrella of pharmaceuticals. So we have formulation, we have quality assurance, quality control. And a wide branch, so I feel like there's a lot of opportunity to, like, you know, just if you don't feel like this department is, like, you cannot be just part of one, you can, like, always switch and try to connect with other scientists from different departments.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
I think consistency, every day you have to make little efforts to the whole project that you're building on. And also, like, having a balance with your work and personal life, like, just managing it both so that you are not, like, consumed a lot, too much. yeah, like, being happy every day is, like, very important. Like, that is the keen to, like, just keep going on. So, like, doing all the things, apart from your research, because apart from your work, you also have your own life, where you have a lot of hobbies, or, like, any things that makes you happy, so just keep doing that, yeah.
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