The Homegrown Bioworkforce

Jun 25, 01:49 AM

Current Headlines: By Caba, Susan

Ashley Bolden entered the University of Missouri-Columbia (MIZZOU) planning a career as a medical doctor. But four years of undergraduate research-washing tab dishes her freshman year and working up to a nationally recognized project on the effects of estrogen on rats-opened her eyes to new possibilities.

"When I began as a researcher, I felt unsuited to be among other undergraduate and graduate research students, but I have proven to myself I can work with the best," she says in a profile on the MIZZOU website on undergraduate research. "I have re-evaluated my career goals and am now focused on becoming a biomedical researcher and going to graduate school."

The University encourages at[ undergraduate students to participate in research projects-either related to their field of study or in another area of I interest. Bolden took part in the MU Life Sciences Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (LU UROP), which helps students find internships on campus, sponsors travel so students can present their work at regional, national and international meetings; conducts workshops for undergrads interested in research careers and helps Line up summer internships and jobs at other schools.

The MIZZOU program is one of many ways universities and colleges in the St. Louis region are preparing students for careers in the Life sciences, as the area develops into a BioBelt with a surging demand for researchers and technicians at all levels. By some estimates, at Least three "bench" scientists are needed to support the work of every Ph.D. Lead scientist on a project.

"Such individuals play a critical role in a research institution," says Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton of Washington University in St. Louis, which-with nearly a half-billion dollars in ongoing research-plays a dual role as recruiter, as well as educator of scientific talent. "I just want to underscore the importance that people with a background of science play in the success of a research institution."

A homegrown workforce of bench scientists and technicians is vital because they don't have the same economic incentives as Ph.D.s to uproot families and move to the region. To that end, almost every school cultivates students to fill the scientific employment ranks.

And, if there's one word that describes the trend in educating a life sciences workforce, it's mobility-mobility across disciplinary boundaries, combining computer sciences with biology, or biology with chemistry. But the word also encompasses an ongoing educational process, one on which a scientist moves up the ladder from lab tech to Ph.D., or from strictly scientific employment to business and research management.

Jack Kennett, professor of biology at Saint Louis University (SLU), says that both science and technology are advancing so quickly that a scientist must plan on a Lifetime of continual education to keep up with the mutations.

He's been nurturing a collaborative program with regional life sciences companies to place student interns in working labs, It should blossom next year into a certificate program in integrative bioinformatics-a broad term that covers the intersection between computer science and biology. The idea is to train people to manage the vast amounts of new data being generated by advances in genetics. Eventually, Kennell would like to create a Master's program.

"This is the era of biology," says Kennell, who's slated to become associate chairman of SLU's biology department in July. "It's a very dynamic time and there are careers here-good careers, meaningful careers and, in some cases, very wellcompensated careers."

The state, too, is encouraging careers in the life sciences. Under the Missouri Advantage Repayment Incentive Option, students who join the state's life science workforce may have up to $2,500 a year in educational loans forgiven, for a total of $10,000 over four years.

Larger universities like SLU, Washington University, MIZZOU and the University of Illinois are spinning off so many new life- science-retated programs it's impossible to list them all.

MIZZOU, for example, has-among its many other programs-a long- standing commitment to interdisciplinary science education. The school established two interdisciplinary programs in the 1980s, Food for the 21st Century and the Molecular Biology Program. The Life Sciences Center, dedicated to interdisciplinary life sciences, was dedicated in 2004.

At the University of Missouri-St. Louis, students in the threeyear-old Biochemistry and Biotechnology Program take classes in both the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry and the Department of Biology, to earn either a Bachelor's or Master's degree. They take more classes in biochemistry than a typical biology major and more in molecular biology than a chemistry major. They also cross disciplines in advanced Lab classes, to prepare them for work in the biotechnology sector. The Master's program caters to parttime students who are working full-time. Already, more than 100 undergraduates and more than 25 graduate students have enrolled in the program and the first batches of students are finishing their degrees.

Mark Burkholder, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, says he envisions similar collaborations between the departments of biology and physics, and in the field of bioinformatics, combining courses in biology, chemistry and computer science. The university enrolls more than 1,600 students every year in Life science classes.

Webster University is also encouraging cross-fertilization of disciplines, with its Biological Sciences degree combining chemistry and biology, with an emphasis on biotechnology. Joyce Bork, chair of the department, says enrollment in science-related degree programs has tripled since she joined the faculty in 1993. On one recent day, she had five phone calls before noon from high school juniors inquiring about the program.

"We already have 10 graduates at Monsanto," she says, "six more are working as lab techs, five are in private companies and four are at Washington University in research at the med school." Another student is getting his degree courtesy of his employer, who is paying the tuition.

Another big push at Webster addresses the business side of life sciences. The Master of Arts in Professional Science Management and Leadership is in its first year, and aims at providing scientists with the skills needed to make the transition to management. The first students are now enrolling in a Master of Arts program in Patent Agency, designed to prepare a professional for managing intellectual property without going to law school to become a patent attorney.

Across the river, (SIUE) got good news from Gov. Blagojevich in March, when he pledged $70 million in state money to replace the school's 40-year-old science building. SIUE Chancellor Vaughn Vandegrift said last year that the school's first priority is a new science building.

"The lack of a new science building is the single most important factor Limiting the future growth of SIUE," Vandegrift said in his annual address. Science related programs, including nursing, pharmacy and biotechnology management are among SIUE's most in- demand programs. Their growth is limited at the moment by the lack of tab space. St. Louis Community College (SLCC), Chancellor Henry Shannon calls Life science the "silver bullet" for students who want long-term careers. The school's biotechnology program trains the ranks of scientific workers in all aspects of the scientific process, putting them in demand at companies and research institutions such as Centocor, Monsanto, Sigma-Aldrich and the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center.

The biotech program, started in 2000, offers its 40-some students two options-a certificate of proficiency, which readies them for immediate employment in a lab, or an associate's degree, which transfers to four year institutions. SLCC even has a tech prep program that offers high school students the chance to earn up to 12 credit hours that will transfer to credit at the college when they graduate.

"The challenge we have is keeping folks in the program until they graduate," says Shannon. Many get job offers before they finish.

Bryan Sisk, another student featured on MIZZOU's website, says his experience in the undergraduate research program played a significant role in structuring his life at the university.

As a freshman, Sisk was "clueless about how to get involved in research" he said. A professor helped him connect with another faculty member who put him to work with a postdoctoral researcher. His first-year experiences, which included literature searches and microsurgeries on tab animals, fed a passion for research that continued with internships through his sophomore and junior years.

Sisk also learned some of the frustrating realities about investigative research-that it can go from the "most exciting to the most mundane and back again, in a rather short time." Luckily, he added, "One successful experiment will quickly make you feel better."

Copyright St. Louis Region Commerce and Growth Association May 01, 2007

(c) 2007 St. Louis Commerce Magazine. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.