Bio-Research & Development Growth Park at the Danforth Center St. Louis Community College

Bio-Research and Development Growth (BRDG) Park

Elizabeth BoedekerCoordinator-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

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!Thank You!

COURSES CREDIT HOURSENG:101 College Composition I 3COM:101 Oral Communication 3MTH:160 College Algebra or higher 4xxx:xxx Social Science Elective 3xxx:xxx History Requirement (by State of MO) 3

PE:xxx Physical Education 2PHL:109 Bio-Medical Ethics 3GE:101 Technical Computer Applications 3

CHM:105 General Chemistry I 5CHM:106 General Chemistry II 5BIO:140 Principles of Biology I 4

BIO:104 Basic Laboratory Methods 3BIO:152 Quantitative Methods in Biotechnology 2BIO:218 Microbiology for Biotechnology 4

BIO:219 Biotechnology I 5BIO:220 Biotechnology II 5BIO:221 Work Place Learning: Biotechnology 3

BIO:225 Genetics 5BIO:226 *Advanced Topics in Biotechnology (2 courses) 6

TOTAL 71

AAS Degree Requirements

COURSES CREDIT HOURSBIO:104 Basic Laboratory Methods 3BIO:219 Biotechnology I 5BIO:220 Biotechnology II 5BIO:226 *Advanced Topics in Biotechnology (2 courses) 6

TOTAL 19

CERTIFICATE OF SPECIALIZATIONCORE 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