Training program meets state demand for biotechnicians

The training program enrolled its first class of students last fall. Now those students and future classes will be able to learn in the first-class educational and research facilities in the new Biotechnology Research and Training Center (BRTC).

The program’s students are surrounded and taught by top-flight scientists who are calling the BRTC their new home. The facility was designed with education as well as research in mind.

The training program draws on the expertise of IU scientists in many disciplines, including genetics, biochemistry, molecular biology, cell biology and proteomics, said White. The skills students acquire are transferable to their current professions and better prepare them for the burgeoning field of biotechnology. There’s a growing need for people with such skills, which is why the program was one of the new initiatives created by the Indiana Genomics Initiative, the $105 million program funded by a grant to IU from the Lilly Endowment.

“The new BRTC has outstanding teaching facilities dedicated to hands-on laboratory and lecture presentations. This includes state-of-the-art video and audio facilities,” said William F. Bosron, IUSM’s assistant dean for graduate studies.

“At the BRTC, students benefit from a large teaching laboratory that enables them to gain hands-on experimental experience rather than watch demonstrations as part of a large group in a small space,” said Judy White, biotechnology laboratory director and assistant professor of biochemistry and molecular biology. Students will work though the flow of experiments from beginning to end without having to switch labs or borrow equipment. The classroom’s media resources will enable instructors and students to switch from computer presentations to a whiteboard to a camera system, depending on which medium is best for presenting information, posing and answering questions, or working through complex diagrams and flow charts. The students will have Internet access in the classroom and will be able to work interactively with speakers at other locations, said White. In the future, the video conferencing capabilities will enable the program’s instructors to train students in other parts of the state.

The training program is targeted at a broad range of potential students, from recent graduates in biology or related fields, to experienced technicians already working in academic or business labs who want to upgrade their biotechnology lab skills.

Participating students will spend a minimum of one-and-a-half years (three full semesters and one summer session) to complete requirements for the IU Graduate School Certificate. The program also can be completed part time in about one-and-a-half to two years. Classes take place in the late afternoon and evening to accommodate students who work full time.