Improving Biopharmaceutical Technician Education with Cell and Gene Therapy Credentials

在过去的四年里，30多家细胞和基因治疗公司已在马里兰州蒙哥马利县成立或落户，使其成为新兴的生物制药产业中心。蒙哥马利学院将通过增加专注于细胞和基因治疗的随时准备工作的生物技术人员的数量来满足这个不断增长的行业的关键劳动力需求。蒙哥马利学院的生物技术项目将增加一个新的细胞和基因治疗证书，预计到2025年每年招收20名学生。他们将把这一新的证书计划与哺乳动物细胞培养的微吸管和无菌技术方面的两个新的微证书结合起来。这些课程的技能和证书将由行业专业人员进行审查，以确保与他们对入门级生物技术职位的期望保持一致。最后，蒙哥马利学院计划通过扩大宣传，结合全面的营销战略和焦点群体分析，提高生物技术项目的知名度和招生人数。蒙哥马利学院计划通过创建新的细胞和基因治疗原理技术课程来改善生物技术项目学生的教育结果，该课程将成为新的细胞和基因治疗证书的一部分。该证书将包括三个现有的课程，这些课程具有强大的监管组成部分，解决了FDA遵守治疗学的基本要素。该学院将与一个行业咨询小组进行磋商，以开发用于哺乳动物细胞培养的微管和无菌技术方面的新微证书。虽然这些被认为是标准技术，但蒙哥马利学院计划实现对这些证书的工业买入，这些证书可以增加学位和证书，并改善学生的就业机会。为了提高该项目的招生人数，该学院将进行重点小组，以确定有关学生兴趣和生物技术职业知识的基线数据。他们还将为蒙哥马利县的学生和教育工作者开发一个10小时的生物技术夏令营，以改善该计划的覆盖面。项目评估员将监督项目的进展，并将使用形成性和终结性评估来指导项目。该项目由高级技术教育计划资助，该计划专注于为推动国家经济的先进技术领域培养技术人员。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Over the past four years more than 30 cell and gene therapy companies have started or become located in Montgomery County, Maryland, making it an emerging center for biopharmaceutical industries. Montgomery College will address the critical workforce needs of this growing industry by increasing the number of work-ready biotechnicians with a focus on cell and gene therapy. The biotechnology program at Montgomery College will add a new Certificate in Cell and Gene therapy with an expected annual enrollment of 20 students by 2025. They will combine this new certificate program with two new micro-credentials in Micropipetting and Aseptic Techniques for Mammalian Cell Culture. Skills from these courses and credentials will be vetted by industry professionals to ensure alignment with their expectations for entry-level biotechnology positions. Finally, the college plans to increase awareness and enrollment in the biotechnology program through increased outreach combined with a comprehensive marketing strategy, and focus group analysis.Montgomery College plans to improve educational outcomes for students in the biotechnology program by creating a new Principles of Cell and Gene Therapy Technology course that will be part of the new Cell and Gene Therapy certificate. The certificate will include three existing courses that feature a strong regulatory component that addresses the essential elements of FDA compliance for therapeutics. The college will consult with an industry advisory group to develop new micro credentials in Micropipetting and Aseptic Techniques for Mammalian Cell Culture. While these are considered standard techniques, Montgomery College plans to achieve industrial buy-in for these credentials which can augment degrees and certificates and improve employment opportunities for students. To improve enrollment in the program, the college will conduct focus groups to determine baseline data regarding student interest and knowledge of biotechnology careers. They will also develop a 10-hour biotechnology camp for Montgomery County students and educators to improve the program’s outreach. A program evaluator will monitor the progress of the project and will use formative and summative assessments to guide it. This project is funded by the Advanced Technological Education program that focuses on the education of technicians for the advanced-technology fields that drive the nation's economy.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.