Workforce Updates

November 2024
Apply Today for the InnovATEBIO Bioscience Leadership Institute (BLI)

Are you a community college or K-12 bioscience instructor who is interested in joining the next generation of leaders? Apply TODAY for the second InnovATEBIO Bioscience Leadership Institute professional development program. Time is running out! More information here.

October 2024
NCBW and Forsyth Tech Participate in NSF Ate Principal Investigators Conference October 23-24, 2024

Russ Read, Jason Gagliano, Tony Brown, Victoria Ferrell and Cheryl Burrell joined 850 NSF ATE grantees and their project partners to share innovative approaches and expertise at the ATE PI conference, particularly in the areas of developing industry partnerships to advance workforce development in laboratory skills, cybersecurity, and Biomedical Emerging Technology Applications (BETA) skills.
Access the conference program here.

NCBW's Russ Read with Dr. Anna Feitzinger, DNA Learning Center

2024 BETA Skills Industry Fellows featured on NC Biotech Center website
Six instructors from across the U.S. shared lessons learned during their eight-week BETA Summer Industry Fellowship. Host companies included Pfizer, Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine (WFIRM), Novex, and Javara Research.
Read more here.

July 2024
The second class of BETA Skills Summer Industry Fellows completed their two month fellows presenting their findings on Friday, July 26 at the Wake Forest Innovation Quarter in Winston-Salem NC.
Learn more about the fellows and their hosts here.

Photo courtesy Cook Medical
Photo courtesy Cook Medical
June 2024
BETA BAP, a unique BETA Professional Development experience for eleven college administrators from throughout the U.S took place over May (virtual) and (June) in person.
Learn about the participants, speakers, and hosts here.


SciTech Lecture Series

SciTech Interview with Lisa Hawk, Director of Corporate Training and Business Development at Forsyth Tech

July 2024
Lisa joined Russ Read and Trevor Tufano for a fascinating discussion about how customized training works in North Carolina and how she works with Forsyth County companies as well as companies who are moving here from other states.
Watch on YouTube

SciTech Interview with Beth Mitchell, Director of Career Services at Forsyth Tech

April 2024
Beth Mitchell joins Russ Read and Trevor Tufano for an enlightening discussion about how students and alumni can stay on top of rapidly evolving hiring practices, including the role of AI technology, and the value that Forsyth Tech’s Career Services team and resources bring to the job search process.
Watch on YouTube

National Center for the Biotechnology Workforce

The National Center for the Biotechnology Workforce (NCBW) provides leadership and a collaborative platform that directly connects industry, educators, and workforce developers to meet the nation’s ever-evolving bioscience workforce needs.

With its focus on capacity building, best practices, professional development, and skills standard generation, NCBW has led several federally funded bioscience workforce initiatives that both promote and build dynamic, on-the-ground, regional and national communities of practice that engage bioscience employers, colleges, trade and workforce organizations, and advanced manufacturing institutes.

Currently, NCBW leads the NSF ATE Skills for Biomedical Emerging Technology Applications (BETA Skills) project which explores advanced technological education for technician-specialists working in convergent technology and is a partner in InnovATEBIO, the NSF ATE National Center for Biotechnology Education, focusing on its Leadership Institute and on assessing emerging technology skill training needs.

Since 2009, NCBW’s public SciTech Lecture Series has attracted a large and diverse monthly audience. Students, faculty, entrepreneurs, scientists, and other interested participants from throughout the community have participated in more than eighty sessions.

NCBW is also home to a state-of-the-art Analytical and Molecular Skills Development Laboratory which provides advanced training and internships for students, as well as equipment and bench space rental to small companies and researchers. AMSDL is a key component of NCBW’s professional development programs which attract bioscience instructors and selected high-school science teachers from across the United States and beyond.