The 1st Workforce Development & Training Advisory Meeting was held February 13, 2025, to evaluate program design, discuss the best avenues to connect trainees with Biotech jobs, and give thought to the future direction of the WDT Program.
The agenda items for discussion focused on three areas:
1) Evaluating WDT Module Topics and Contents
The committee discussion identified core developmental areas the WDT program should focus on. These skills would be broadly valuable across different biotechnology jobs and include developing a strong set of basic research skills and strong numeracy skills. The committee also recommended strengthening and developing instruction on research documentation and data rigor/integrity/management, reading scientific literature, and possibly incorporating an introduction to AI/Machine learning topics. The soft skills training module garnered strong enthusiasm. The committee recommended reviewing the modules for redundancies and defining the core competencies met by each module. It was suggested that we adopt a few modules for a more extended but more diffuse schedule to reach a larger audience. This might include offering modules during the academic year. These efforts may synergize curricular collaboration with the RI-INBRE partner institutions. This is particularly relevant for creating a co-op program related to the modules. The committee agreed that the larger goal of the WDT modules should be to develop critical thinking skills and translate concepts into hands-on skills, as the best candidates understand why things are done, not only how to execute protocols. These skills would be valuable for a wide range of biotechnology jobs. There was also a discussion on how we can improve our connection between WDT training and skills that trainees will use in the future jobs they are pursuing. Inviting industry representatives into modules to articulate how the skills covered in the modules specifically apply in the industry was also discussed. This could also provide opportunities for industry representatives to mentor trainees.
2) Strategies for Connecting Trainees with Biotechnology Jobs
We had previously discussed creating a meet-up session at either the summer picnic or the end-of-summer poster session for the RI Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium (SURS), where we would invite biotech reps to meet WDT trainees and network. The committee agreed that this is worth exploring. Much of the conversation about connecting trainees with biotech industry jobs focused on where the WDT program fits the students’ overall training. The WDT modules are suitable for introducing students to different topics in a short course, but they do not bridge the gap to biotech jobs, which require more experience and exposure to biotech. An intriguing suggestion for connecting students to biotech would be to work to create an RI co-op program in which undergraduate students take WDT modules and engage in semester and/or research experiences at their institutions leading up to the summer after their junior year. Then, these students would co-op for that summer and the subsequent fall at a biotech company. This would make substantive connections between the students and biotech industry people and jobs and provide the ~6 months necessary for an intensive exposure to biotech. While networking with industry and colleges would take much work, several RI institutions already offer biotechnology curricula. This would also allow us to network with other state biotech, pharmaceutical, academic, and government entities invested in workforce development.
3) Program Sustainability and Future Directions
The WDT will be supported by funding from the US Department of Labor Community Project Grant Award for the next three years. We hope to build the program into a sustainable model during this time. One idea for expanding the program sustainably is to develop more extended modules for incumbent workers. This would create connections with current professionals and provide a revenue stream to support the program. This might involve a partnership with the programming at the URI Pharmaceutical Development Institute. The idea of getting involved with the new RI-Life Science Hub (LSH) in Providence was discussed. This might include creating a second RI-INBRE core facility for the companies, which could incorporate training modules. The challenges discussed for creating a co-op program included RI possibly having limited nearby co-op opportunities.
Workforce Development & Training Advisory Members
Advisory members include Advait Badkar, Executive Director (Pfizer), Yow-Pin Lim, CEO (ProThera Biologics), Daniel Magiera, CEO (Molecular MS Diagnostics), Kristen Dowling (Sr.Manager Quality Assurance (Amgen), William Park, Vice President (Theromics), Timothy Davenport, Director of Advanced Research (ACS Industries), Andrew Campbell, Professor Emeritus of Medical Science (Brown University), and Stevin Zorn, President & CEO (MindImmune Therapeutics). Ad hoc members are ngsup Cho, RI-INBRE Program Director (University of Rhode Island), Brett Pollock, RI-INBRE Program Coordinator (Providence College), Claudia Fallini, Student Research Project Lead (University of Rhode Island). The committee will continue to meet to discuss program direction and continuous improvement opportunities.