Student Spark Story
Devon Tompane
Key Account Clinical Account Specialist
Biosense Webster, Inc. (part of the Johnson & Johnson family of companies)
Ignited Teacher: Meghan Straz, freshman biology teacher
Student Spark Story
Sitting in Meghan Straz’s freshman high school biology lesson about CRISPR gene editing, Devon Tompane realized she had found her career path. Ten years and various biotech classes and experiences later, Devon has come full circle and is now working as a Clinical Account Specialist at Johnson and Johnson – the same company that funded her very first biology internship.
Meghan Straz brought biology to life for her students with her own personal industry experience. As a three time Ignited alumna, she has completed three summer fellowships in Stanford University research labs, spending eight weeks each summer contributing to research varying from the effects of cooling body temperature on cognition, the genetics of aging using worms as model organisms for humans, and CRISPR applications to study genetic and transmittable diseases including the flu and COVID-19.
Devon continued on from freshman honors biology to take Straz’s biotech class her junior year and became her mentee, meeting regularly outside of class to discuss Straz’s professional experiences in the field as well as how to persist through test anxiety and personal life challenges. “The skills she taught me as a student affected me not just through my education but carried through to my professional career.” Straz even pointed her towards her first biology internship, which was funded by J&J.
“I genuinely can say this without the shadow of a doubt: Straz has been the biggest mentor in my academic and educational career,” Devon remarks. “In her teaching, in her own opportunities – what she did at Stanford and everything – she has really shown the kind of work and devotion you put into something is the level of impact you’re going to have. As she was doing these opportunities at Stanford, I was seeing a teacher pursue their passions and professional journeys outside of the classroom. It really connected how many options there were going to be in life, that there are always ways to seek information, grow ourselves professionally.”
When the time came for her to apply to jobs after college, Devon found herself repeatedly checking J&J’s job board, wanting to give back to the company that had invested in her as the next generation workforce. Now at Biosense Webster, part of Johnson and Johnson Medtech, Devon rotates between the operating rooms of six different hospitals across the Bay Area as she supports cardiologists and electrophysiologists who have been doing surgeries for years. She builds 3D maps of patients’ hearts and their electrical conduction system, giving the surgeon a live, real-time map to see what is happening.
In her everyday work, Devon draws on the foundational biotech content knowledge and career skills that she practiced in Straz’s industry-aligned classes, and she approaches her work with the idea that she can constantly grow herself professionally just as she saw Straz strive to do through her Ignited fellowships. Recognizing the way Straz, Stanford, and Johnson and Johnson gave back to the next generation workforce, Devon aims to build a career that similarly contributes meaningfully to society: “Every day as fulfilling as my job is just from a career standpoint, the direct impact I know it has on patients’ lives is what makes it all worthwhile.”