When Life and Technology Unite
A new INGEN-funded program prepares research professionals for
careers in the biotechnology industry.
Imagine a future where today's diseases are history, only footnotes
in medical textbooks. With the decoding of the human genome and
vast changes occurring in biomedical research, that future is a
promise that educators and scientists are now exploring through
a new program at the Indiana University School of Medicine.
The Biotechnology Training Program (BTP) is designed for the continuing
education of research technicians in academic and industrial laboratories
who have both graduate and undergraduate degrees and are seeking
to enhance their biotechnology skills.
"The rapidly changing frontier of biotechnology has created
a need for highly trained research and medical specialists, and
we're responding to that need," says BTP Director William F.
Bosron, PhD, IUSM's assistant dean for graduate studies.
The BTP is one of the first programs to be launched by the Indiana
Genomics Initiative (INGEN), which was funded by a $105 million
grant from the Lilly Endowment to Indiana University. Among INGEN's
many goals is to bring world-class life sciences research and education
to Indiana.
The certificate program draws from many disciplines, including
genetics, biochemistry, molecular biology and proteomics, says Judy
White, PhD, biotechnology laboratory director and assistant professor
of biochemistry and molecular biology. The skills students acquire
are transferable to their current professions and better prepare
them for the burgeoning field of biotechnology.
Participating students will spend a minimum of one-and-a-half years
(three full semesters and one summer session) to complete requirements
for the certificate. The program also can be completed part time
in about two-and-a-half years. Classes will take place in the late
afternoon and evening to accommodate students who work full time.
Dr. White notes that inquiries about the program have come from
New Jersey, Louisiana and as far away as Egypt and India.
"I was interested in the program for three reasons,"
says Chaya Bangalore, who traveled from India to attend the program,
"To calm people's fear of antibiotics, to learn about genetically
modified crops, and discover how microorganisms can be used to clean
up oil spills."
Bangalore, one of eight students who comprise the first BTP class,
has a bachelor's degree in microbiology, a master's in environmental
sciences, and four years laboratory experience. Bangalore's aspirations
represent a fraction of the possibilities resulting from biotechnology
research. For example, new drugs might be developed to decrease
organ transplant rejections, or researchers could discover how to
reduce allergens in food and develop plants that produce proteins
similar to those found in animals. In 2003, IU will take a major
step in advancing biotechnology research and education, with the
opening of the Biotechnology Research and Training Center in Indianapolis.
It will give students access to modern research facilities for cellular
imaging, DNA sequencing, proteomics, gene expression, protein expression,
flow cytometry and bioinformatics.
"A main reason I was drawn to the program is because it has
all these resources at one place," says Heather Coppage, a
research technician in the IUSM Department of Cellular and Integrative
Physiology. The program aims to adapt to changing needs in the biotechnology
industry. The focus of some major laboratories has shifted from
traditional chemical and related analyses to proteomics, a new scientific
discipline which detects and studies proteins specific to a particular
disease.
Bioethics is an integral part of the BTP coursework and will be
offered with assistance from the IU Center for Bioethics. "We
want to meet industry needs and social needs, and we know we can
work together to do that," says Dr. White. "Students need
to know about bioethical concerns and how bioethics relates to their
profession and the field of biotechnology."
The program's approach to problem-based learning emphasizes communication
and leadership within teams of five to six students. Each team is
assigned a faculty mentor and tackles various academic and industrial
research problems drawn from situations the students may encounter
in their careers.
"With the proteomics and genomics facilities housed in the
Biotechnology Research Training Center and those facilities housed
in the School of Medicine, the biotechnology training program will
create and sustain a pool of highly-skilled academic and industrial
research associates in the biomedical sciences and move Indiana
to the forefront of the life sciences industry," says Dr. White.
Certainly those goals are in line with a visionary plan shared
by others in Indiana. IU recently became a major partner in the
Central Indiana Life Sciences Initiative, a public/private coalition
designed to transform the region into a hub of research and education.
IU joins with Purdue University, the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership,
the City of Indianapolis, Indiana Health Industry and others in
a partnership to invest more than $1.5 billion in expanding biomedical
research and biotechnology enterprises throughout the state.
For more information about the Biotechnology Training Program,
go to www.medicine.iu.edu/~gradschl/biotechTraining/index.html.
Details about the Indiana Genomics Initiative can be found at www.ingen.iu.edu.
The Central Indiana Life Sciences Initiative has a Web site at www.indygov.org/mayor/cilsi/.
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