Doctoral Life Design Studio Staff

Dr. Roshni Rao has dedicated her career to reshaping the landscape of higher education and career development. As the inaugural Director of PHutures at Johns Hopkins University and now Assistant Vice Provost of Doctoral and Postdoctoral Life Design, Dr. Rao has led initiatives that have profoundly influenced the professional trajectories of thousands of scholars worldwide. She provides strategic oversight, fosters team development, and leads high-level initiatives to drive impactful outcomes and long-term growth.

Under Dr. Rao’s leadership, doctoral life design at Johns Hopkins has become a nationally recognized hub for career and professional development, impacting over 7,000 doctoral students and postdoctoral researchers. Her innovative initiatives include the internationally attended “Horizons by Hopkins” career conference, which has featured prominent speakers such as Trevor Noah and Dr. Ibram X. Kendi, as well as the #100 Alumni Voices Project. She also co-founded the “Black & Latine Excellence Conference,” pioneering efforts to expand access to opportunities and amplify underrepresented voices. Dr. Rao’s dedication to innovation and fostering belonging has earned her prestigious accolades, including the Career Leadership Collective Career Excellence Award, the Supervisor of the Year Award, the Staff Excellence for Leadership and Service Award, and Johns Hopkins’ Diversity Recognition Award.

Dr. Rao’s recent accomplishments include integrating two offices into one cohesive unit- The Doctoral Life Design Studio, streamlining operations, and significantly expanding team capacity to better serve the needs of doctoral and postdoctoral scholars. Her strategic vision has driven a 700% programmatic budget increase, the creation of a thriving employer partnership team, and the expansion of new initiatives like the “Tri-University Empower Your Pitch contest”.

A speaker and thought leader, Dr. Rao has delivered keynote addresses at prestigious institutions, including the University of Michigan, Penn State University, the National Cancer Institute and the University of Illinois. She has also shared her expertise through articles in Inside Higher Ed, addressing topics such as scaling career services and empowering international graduate students, and through appearances on popular podcasts like Once a Scientist, Chaperone and When Science Speaks.

Prior to her tenure at Johns Hopkins, Dr. Rao served as Associate Director of Career and Professional Development at the National Institute on Aging (NIA), where she developed programs to support the professional growth of postdoctoral scientists.

With a Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences from the University of South Carolina and a postdoctoral fellowship at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Dr. Rao bridges scientific expertise with a passion for mentoring and empowering others. She is committed to building systems that inspire innovation, foster collaboration, and create lasting impact.

Dr. Rao approaches each opportunity with thoughtfulness and pragmatism, offering actionable insights and a steadfast commitment to empowering individuals and institutions.

Tyler Sluder joined JHU in September 2022 and is the Director of Employer Partnerships and Experiential learning. His role involves leading employer outreach, campus engagement, and creating employer partnerships.

Prior to his time at JHU, Tyler served as a Client Development Manager connecting fortune 500 employers with graduate students from many top institutions. He also has over 7 years of talent acquisition experience, including as a consultant recruiting in the higher education space, and as a specialist at the University of Cincinnati Foundation.

Tyler completed his Bachelor’s Degree in Organizational Leadership in 2013 at the University of Cincinnati. He was a member of the University of Cincinnati-Clermont baseball team for 3 years, serving as a pitcher, and earning All-Academic Team honors.

Key responsibilities:

• Leads the team and strategy focused on scaling employer relationships and experiential learning avenues.
• Develops employer partnerships for the development of internships, experiential learning projects, and job shadowing opportunities.
• Manages employer campus engagement strategies.
• Oversees doctoral experiential learning and internship programming.

Professional expertise: Human Resources, Recruiting/Talent Acquisition, Higher Education Consulting

Dr. Andrea Pereyra joined JHU and the Doctoral Life Design Studio in March 2024 as the Assistant Director of Postdoctoral Life Design. Her focus is supporting the professional development of postdoctoral fellows across all disciplines. In this role, Andrea aims to connect individuals with resources and experiences so they can thrive in their chosen career paths.

Before this, Andrea was a postdoctoral scholar in biomedical research. She has over 15 years of academic experience, including laboratory work, teaching, and mentoring. She has published seminal discoveries in fatty acid oxidation disorders and presented her work nationally and internationally. More importantly, her academic journey has catalyzed Andrea’s passion to serve doctoral and postdoctoral scholars as an academic administration leader.

Andrea completed medical and graduate school at the National University of La Plata School of Medicine in Argentina, earning an MD/PhD degree. She is fluent in Spanish and is a connoisseur of Argentinian sweet treats and baked goods.

Andrea is also a member of the National Postdoctoral Association’s Board of Directors, where she advocates for postdocs of all disciplines and fields nationally. Previously, she was a postdoc leader at the Purdue University Postdoctoral Association (PPDA) and the East Carolina University PDA (ECU PDA). She was an invited panelist on the NIH Advisory Committee to the Director Working Group on Re-envisioning NIH-Supported Postdoctoral Training 2023, providing her insights on challenges international postdocs face in the US.

Key responsibilities:

• Designs, plans, and executes courses, workshops, programs, and resources to assist postdoctoral fellows in exploring career options and securing a path of their choice.
• Assists postdoctoral fellows with discipline-specific and research-wide skill-building.
• Develop partnerships and coordinate offerings with the JHU postdoctoral associations, the office of postdoctoral affairs, international services, clinical departments, and other units involved in professional and career education.

Professional expertise: Academic Research, Skill Building, Career Exploration, International & Domestic Postdoctoral Affairs, Postdoc-centered Advocacy.

Moremi joined JHU in December 2016 as an administrative Program Coordinator supporting doctoral and postdoctoral researcher professional development and career services. She currently supports the JHU doctoral and postdoctoral career office on East Baltimore campus with programming, event logistics, data analysis, reporting and office operations. She also supports the JHU Teaching Academy’s Collaborative Teaching Fellows Program, which partners with the University of Baltimore School of Medicine to provide doctoral students and postdoctoral researchers from JHU and UMB opportunities to gain practical teaching experience at local Baltimore-area undergraduate institutions.

Prior to joining the doctoral and postdoc career services office, she worked for non-governmental and non-profit organizations primarily with program and financial reporting. She received her MA in international relations from the Johns Hopkins SAIS and her BA in Film and Africana studies from Vassar College. She is a cat mom to two young rescues from the MDSPCA.

Key responsibilities:

• Support development and logistics for career education and experiential learning programming as well as digital resources for doctoral and postdoctoral researcher professional development and career exploration
• Help monitor budgets, expenditures and vendor payments with partners across JHU
• Support development of office best practices/standards that align with university policies

Professional expertise: Higher education administration, data wrangling/management, event planning and logistics, program management support, workplan development, activity reporting

Amen (ey-men) Justice-Awuzie (jUHstis-ah-WOOZ-yeh) is a dedicated career coach, educator, and lifelong learner with extensive experience helping adult learners navigate their career paths. Previously, Amen developed successful career programs, cultivated employer partnerships, and led workshops to help students explore career options at Towson University.

Amen earned a master’s degree in Professional Writing (Teaching Track) and a bachelor’s degree in English and Deaf Studies from Towson University. She also earned a post-master’s certificate in Strategic Human Resources Management from University of Maryland Global Campus, so Amen brings valuable insight as she helps job seekers understand key hiring practices. She has experience beyond life design and career services as she has served on various university committees relating to student conduct/accountability, international scholars, drug and alcohol, and staff development.

In her current role on the Doctoral Employer Partnerships and Experiential Learning team, Amen is focused on expanding job shadowing opportunities for doctoral and postdoctoral scholars and creating customized career experiences. Her passion for empowering others drives her commitment to educating, encouraging, and supporting learners as they advance toward their career goals.

(Clifton Strengths: Achiever, Relator, Learner, Strategic, Responsibility)

Marta Śliwa joined the Doctoral Life Design Studio in December of 2024 as the Assistant Director of Doctoral Life Design for the School of Medicine, and Program Director of OPTIONS. Marta is also a graduate of Johns Hopkins University, where she received her Ph.D. in Chemistry in January 2024. Her expertise in complex nanomaterial synthesis has paved the way for new advancements in the field.

Marta has worked with the DLDS (formerly PHutures) since 2020 as a doctoral student fellow, helping the office with the planning and execution of numerous initiatives, including the Horizons by Hopkins Conference, and the Empower Your Pitch! Competition. Marta was also an Operations Associate for Hire Hopkins, where she applied data- and strategy-driven approaches to plan and execute hiring initiatives for students across all nine JHU schools.

Marta is passionate about mentoring, interdisciplinary collaboration, and driving transformative change through meaningful work, and was a recipient of the 2022 Career Impact Award. In addition to these passions, Marta brings her 5+ years of operations, program and project management, and career education experience to her current role, helping achieve her focus of empowering doctoral students to take control of their career journeys with confidence.

Key Responsibilities:

• Leads the design & implementation of innovative programs, workshops, and resources, forming a career education curriculum aimed at supporting doctoral scholars in the biomedical sciences in exploring career pathways and achieving professional growth.
• Facilitates collaborative partnerships with faculty and departmental administrators to ensure the alignment of career development initiatives with the academic and professional needs of doctoral scholars.
• Provides personalized career consultations and mentorship to doctoral students, empowering them with strategic career planning and decision-making tools.
• Assists with strategic planning, growth, and process optimization for the office: evaluating current processes for efficacy, and providing recommendations for their improvement

Professional expertise: Academic research, logistics & operations, program design, strategic growth

Bridget Purcell joined Johns Hopkins University in 2025 as Assistant Director of Doctoral Life Design for the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences. In this inaugural role, she designs innovative programming and strategic initiatives to prepare KSAS graduate students for professional trajectories both within and beyond academia.

Before joining Hopkins, Bridget served as Head of Social Research at Emic.Ai, where she conducted mixed-methods market research for the biopharma sector. She also spent several years as a teaching professor at Princeton University and Rutgers University, where her innovative pedagogy earned university-wide recognition and inspired co-curricular programs connecting students with community and professional partners.

Bridget holds a Ph.D. in Sociocultural Anthropology from Princeton University, where her research focused on urbanism, migration, and political ecology in modern Turkey. She takes pride in championing the unique strengths of humanities and social science scholars, helping them to navigate diverse career paths with confidence and purpose.

Key Responsibilities:

Designs workshops, events, and digital tools to help KSAS scholars explore career possibilities and build practical, transferable skills.

Brings students, alumni, and industry professionals together to build connections, foster mentorship, and grow their professional networks.

Creates scalable programs and resources that meet students where they are, offering support as they navigate their academic and professional journeys.

Leverages data and feedback to continually improve programs, ensuring they stay relevant, impactful, and aligned with the evolving needs of KSAS students.

Industry expertise: Qualitative and Mixed-Methods Research, Program Design and Assessment, Data-Driven Strategy, Tech and Startup Ecosystems