Bio-1 Teams Are on a Roll…

Throughout this month, the six Bio-1 Strategy and Implementation teams all held their first meetings and began to define what it means to achieve their team goals in the context of the overall Bio-1 goal.  The teams, totaling more than 70 people altogether are comprised of representatives from all walks of life (and all five Bio-1 counties).  Listed below are some of the early successes for each team. 

Team 1: Excite Young People about the Biosciences
This team is comprised of members who support so many wonderful programs in place throughout the region, including the Museum of Contemporary Science in Trenton, the Douglass Project at Rutgers, and the Teaching and Learning Center at Rider, among others so they had a lively discussion of what it means to excite people about the biosciences.  The team agreed that this would include demonstrating the relevance to each student (what does it mean in my life), developing a sense of community around the field, connecting to real practitioners, reaching all influencers, engaging students to make the learning immersive and exposure to inspirational teaching.
 
Team 2: Lay Smooth Career and Educational Pathways
At the core of Team 2 is the New Jersey Biotechnology Educators Consortium (NJBEC).  The consortium will serve as a focal point to facilitate communication between biotechnology educators at the middle and high school levels, community colleges, and four-year colleges and universities, as well as the New Jersey biotechnology industry.  Through curriculum enhancement and articulation agreements, NJBEC will transform and align pre-baccalaureate programs in biotechnology to create multiple career pathways from the final years of high school directly into New Jersey colleges and universities.  Plans are already underway for the first annual focal event meeting of biotechnology educators.

Team 3: Transform Graduate Education
This team will continue moving forward in the development of a series of Professional Science Masters (PSM) programs at Rutgers.  As part of a growing national trend, these programs combine management/business with science/engineering, targeting students with technical degrees to prepare them for leadership and integrator roles.  In order to make sure these programs would be in line with industry needs, a focus group was held with representatives from pharmaceutical companies.  The pilot course for the PSM programs is currently running is at capacity with 30 students.  The course, Case Studies in Drug Discovery and Development - Advanced Topics in Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, covers the Lifecycle (Discovery through Commercialization) through case studies.

Team 4: Increase Bioscience Workforce Development
This team has a very full plate, and they are discussing ideas around several re-training programs, such as “Flak Jackets to Lab Coats”.  At the core of these discussions is the re-training of displaced workers from IT, Fort Monmouth, and pharmaceutical companies, to name a few.  They are looking to address the workforce development needs uncovered through the HealthCare Institute of NJ report, and will look to the upcoming focus groups with biotechnology companies to understand needs better.

Team 5: Enhance Linkages between Education and Industry
One of the goals for this team is to enhance the Bio-1 web portal, which will provide access to a wide array of matching opportunities, including, but not limited to internship, co-op, apprenticeship, research and mentoring opportunities at all levels, as well as opportunities for training and re-training employees, licensing and technology transfer. 

Through one of the Bio-1 partners, the Center for Advanced Information Processing at Rutgers, the capability is already in place to create this site fairly quickly.  The site will be interactive with a potential Facebook feel to it.   A subcommittee will work together to address the design needs for the website before finalizing the proposal. 

Team 6: Facilitate Globally Competitive BioBusiness
This team, after discussing the general issues they face decided that one way to make a big impact early on is by hosting a global conference consisting of targeted bioscience parks in order to obtain information on what is needed to build a bigger and better infrastructure for bioscience in central New Jersey, as well as what will needed to attract bioscience start-ups and mid size enterprises.  This will also lead to partnerships to be developed globally and provide direction as to where to focus our efforts.