Bio-Research & Development Growth Park at the Danforth Center St. Louis Community College Bio-Research and Development Growth (BRDG) Park Elizabeth Boedeker Coordinator-Senior Research Scientist Adjunct Faculty Member Biotechnology Program

First Biotechnology Program in the State of Missouri Started Fall 1999 Research and Development based AAS and Certificate of Specialization degrees Half of declared majors - BS or higher

Very Successful Over 100 AAS & CS Degrees Awarded 58 Declared Majors (2011) 91% life science job placement

How did we get there? Partnerships with Industry in local area – These will be the employers for graduates Asked the right questions

Square Wheels?

So what do they want? General laboratory skills – Pipetting skills – Record-keeping skills (notebook) – MATH skills Soft skills

Once Developed…Keep Going! Not done! Molecular biology changes Maintain curriculum to keep it “cutting edge”

How to Maintain Curriculum Training for faculty – National Science Foundation Workshops Genomics: From Mendel to Microchips BIO Manufacturing Conference and Workshop RNA Interference Workshops Adjunct Faculty from Industry – Who better to teach it

Program-specific Advisory Board Made up of similar folks polled initially Meet annually to share updates or changes to programs Receive important feedback from Board

Advisory Board from Industry Centocor Pfizer Monsanto Microbe Inotech Donald Danforth Plant Science Center Solae Kelly Scientific Sigma Aldrich Nestle Purina

Advanced Topics Courses Changes to the curriculum can be slow Need to be more quickly adaptive at times General course that can be applied to many different “specialties” Allows flexibility

Advanced Topics

Advanced Topics In Biotechnology Forensics Proteomics Quantitative PCR Plant Transformation RNA interference Bioprocessing

Continue to Grow? Outgrow lab space What to do?

Center for Plant and Life Sciences (CPLS) Expanded Laboratory Space – Can offer additional sections of courses Moved in Oct 2009 Classes started Jan 2010 – Centralized to all STLCC Campuses Embedded in Industry-rich Location Professional Building – Good exposure for our students

Contract Research Organization (CRO) November 2009 Clients – Define projects – Determine if we have capabilities to do Supervise students – Train in skills if necessary – Keep on task – Maintain timelines in many cases more “real world” than classes

Multiple CRO Benefits Education Biotechnology Support of Industry locally – Start up companies – Other

St. Louis Community College Trained workforce Local Industry Local Community How Things Started

How Things are Moving Now St. Louis Community College Trained workforce Local Industry Local Community NON Local Industry Community Outreach Activities

Summary Successful program requires input Must be adaptive to accommodate changes Adjunct Faculty from the field Workplace learning in CRO extra bonus – Promotes more interaction with industry – Helps support industry as well as students

Thank You!

COURSESCREDIT HOURS ENG:101College Composition I3 COM:101 Oral Communication3 MTH:160College Algebra or higher4 xxx:xxxSocial Science Elective3 xxx:xxxHistory Requirement (by State of MO)3 PE:xxxPhysical Education2 PHL:109Bio-Medical Ethics3 GE:101Technical Computer Applications3 CHM:105General Chemistry I5 CHM:106General Chemistry II5 BIO:140 Principles of Biology I4 BIO:104Basic Laboratory Methods3 BIO:152 Quantitative Methods in Biotechnology2 BIO:218Microbiology for Biotechnology4 BIO:219Biotechnology I5 BIO:220Biotechnology II5 BIO:221Work Place Learning: Biotechnology3 BIO:225Genetics 5 BIO:226*Advanced Topics in Biotechnology (2 courses) 6 TOTAL71 AAS Degree Requirements

COURSESCREDIT HOURS BIO:104Basic Laboratory Methods3 BIO:219Biotechnology I5 BIO:220Biotechnology II5 BIO:226*Advanced Topics in Biotechnology (2 courses)6 TOTAL 19 CERTIFICATE OF SPECIALIZATION CORE BIOTECH COURSES Post Baccalaureate

Overview: What are we? Research for hire – Academic institutions – Local companies – RESOURCE Additional training for our students – Internship opportunities within the CRO

General Molecular Biology – Nucleic Acid – Protein – Cell Culture Specialized – High end equipment – Available for use Can We Help?

Equipment – BioPlex

Equipment - Imager

Equipment – Sequencer/Fragment analyzer

Equipment - MACS QUANT

Equipment – EnSpire Plate Reader

Interns Successful placement out of CRO – Past CRO interns 5 hired within BRDG Park – (3) Monsanto (Divergence) – (2) Phycal 1 hired Danforth – 5 interns currently BRDG Park – 1 engineering student – Potentially 1 horticulture intern for fall