Developing Tomorrow’s Workforce Leaders
CBIS works with companies to develop short courses for their employees to gain training on the advanced technological equipment in our core lab facilities.
CBIS is taking a leadership role in developing cutting-edge programs that deliver the critical knowledge and skills our industry partners require. By working directly with our industry collaborators, we continue to develop content that is engaging, relevant and fully aligned with the needs of the industry. These programs are designed to be adaptable and continually optimize the mix of learning modalities as needs and circumstances change. Modalities may include, for example, classroom learning, laboratory experiential learning at the academic institution and/or at the employer’s worksite, distance learning, team learning, and on-the-job training.
The pipeline will ultimately be able to start preparing tomorrow’s workforce at every age and skill level. For example, CBIS is currently offering and continually improving trainings for:
- Graduate students: Multiple experiential laboratory training and internship opportunities
- Incumbent workforce: Continuous learning via remote and on-site trainings to upskill for the future biopharmaceutical manufacturing environment
- Nontraditional workforce: Classroom, online, and workplace trainings to prepare for jobs in advance biopharmaceutical manufacturing
CBIS and Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai are partners in the multi-year National Institute on Aging Training Program in Alzheimer’s Clinical and Translational Research [link to ADCTR page]. This graduate training program provides interdisciplinary education for predoctoral students spanning Architecture, Biological Sciences, Biomedical Engineering, Chemical and Biological Engineering and Chemistry and Chemical Biology. The Training Program incorporates an integrated and multidisciplinary platform to train predoctoral students at the interface of these disciplines, focusing on the quantitative linkages that define this interface and preparing Trainees for careers in applied sciences and clinical research.
We also provide graduate training through a multi-year workforce development grant from the National Institute of General Medical Science [link to NIGMS], The program, called the National Institute of General Medical Sciences Training Program in Biomolecular Science and Engineering, is designed to provide core competence to trainees in biotechnology, life sciences, engineering, data science, and entrepreneurship.
The CBIS Research Training Program is an outgrowth of a grant from The National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals (NIIMBL), [link to NIIMBL subpage] in advanced pharmaceutical manufacturing workforce readiness. The program is a 10-week undergraduate certificate training offered in the summer and fall semesters 2020. The pandemic has forced us to be even more innovative about this training, devising remote methodologies to allow rising sophomore students to learn laboratory research methodologies and equipment [link to Facilities]. The training is designed to prepare students to work in their junior years as interns with advanced biopharmaceutical manufacturers, ultimately creating a pipeline for a workforce skilled in future methodologies.
The first course in this series is the 3-Day Flow Cytometry Boot Camp, a workforce development project in collaboration with Celgene, a division of Bristol-Myers Squibb and LumaCyte, LLC. The development project is funded by National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals (NIIMBL) [link to subpage]. Offered for the first time in September 2019 at the Center for Biotechnology & Interdisciplinary Studies. It is now being redeveloped for the unique circumstances and limitations imposed by the Novel Coronavirus pandemic of 2020.
3-day Characterization of Cell Therapy Products by Flow and Laser Force Cytometry
Where: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Center for Biotechnology & Interdisciplinary Studies (CBIS)
When: Fall 2020 Date TBD
Format: 3-Day boot camp style short course (50/50 hands on and lecture)
Cost: TBD
Registration. For more information or to register, please contact:
Max U. Morton, Director, Business Development & Operations mortom3@rpi.edu 518-276-4872
Who Should Attend
- Industry Attendees Employees with basic preliminary experience in Flow Cytometry but who want to move beyond a repetitive operator mind-set. (From How to Why).
- Data Analytics/CMC Employees who want to understand how their data is generated and how to connect experimental design with data quality and reliability.
- Federal Regulators Employees that will be auditing/inspecting these facilities or making regulatory decisions based on this type of data.
- Clinicians Clinicians collecting and supplying samples for this type of research.
Course Content
Experimental Design and Planning Strategies
- Dye Selection Strategies
- Specific and Non-specific AB binding & Titration
- Cocktail Staining Strategies
- Appropriate Use of Beads and Calibrations
- Phenotypic Characterization of T-cells (case study)
Hands on Equipment Operation & Troubleshooting
- Control Strategies, Compensation Selection & troubleshooting
- Cleaning, maintenance, clog prevention
- Effective Bead use and Calibrations
- Instrument troubleshooting
Data Analysis and Visualization
- Scattering (FSC SSC)
- Histograms
- Multi-variant Analysis
- Low Event Analysis
Laser Force Cytology
- Basic Principals
- Viral Infectivity Monitoring
- CAR-T cell Applications
- Gene Therapy Applications
- Label Free Cell Sorting
- Remote run & Data Analysis
This course was developed with a project award from the National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals (NIIMBL) and financial assistance from the U.S. Department of Commerce, National Institute of Standards and Technology (70NANB17H002).
