Soaring college tuition costs and massive student debt loads are two dynamics that are calling into question the traditional preparation for successful professional careers. While community colleges and vocational training offer popular alternative paths, a five-year-old program in a small city on the north shore of Boston is providing recent high school graduates with an altogether different career development choice.
Over the past few decades, strict fishing limits have marginalized opportunity historically available to the sons and daughters of Gloucester, Massachusetts. Today, as dozens of fishing vessels rust in marinas along the city’s working waterfront, young residents who would have enjoyed careers in the maritime economy are instead training for successful trajectories as professional lab technicians in the thriving Massachusetts life sciences ecosystem.
A 2019 study by the Massachusetts Biotechnology Education Foundation points out that “the Massachusetts life sciences sector employed over 74,000 people in 2018; an additional 12,000 jobs are projected to be created by 2024.” What’s more, “…a lack of applicants with the necessary scientific and technical skills was a significant or critical obstacle to hiring.”
Gloucester Biotechnology Academy, a program of Gloucester Marine Genomics Institute, enrolled its first class in the Autumn of 2016. Since then, the Academy has produced technicians that work in some of the most well-known labs in Greater Boston. The certificate program consists of two semesters of lab learning followed by paid internships in area biotechs. Over the course of 10 months, recent high school graduates, many of whom are underserved and un/underemployed, are transformed into technicians ready for professional industry workflows. Dexterous hands that might well have mended nets in an earlier time are newly skilled in the use of state-of-the-art instrumentation.
In Semester 1, students learn the fundamentals of laboratory safety, accurately and precisely measuring and transferring mass and volume, and collecting and analyzing large data sets. The experimental procedures then transition to a clean DNA extraction with subsequent experiments used to prepare DNA samples for library prep, sequencing on a MiSeq platform, and analyzing results within the Galaxy bioinformatics pipeline.
During Semester 2, students experience the hands-on training required to work in a biomanufacturing laboratory. The workflow includes culture and strain engineering, analysis of growth parameters in fermenters and bioreactors, and purification and packaging of the final product. As is the case with Semester 1, emphasis is on repetition of experiments, weekly workflows that build on one another, and career skills training for success in the professional workplace. As experiments grow increasingly more complex, students will be expected to efficiently plan their time, think creatively, and troubleshoot when experiments fail.
In addition to technical bench skills, the Academy prepares students for professional work environments by focusing on career skills. Students hone skills including communication, teamwork, laboratory etiquette, time management, organization, financial planning, resume and cover letter writing, and interviewing. The Academy invites professionals from the community such as scientists, human resources representatives, finance experts, and life coaches to coach students. The comprehensive nature of the career skills curriculum is unique to the Academy program, and when coupled with technical lab training, creates mature, competent individuals who are ready to compete for jobs.
During this past academic year, when COVID-19 cautions forced many programs into distance learning, the normal Gloucester Biotechnology Academy precautionary protocols of working in a “clean” lab enabled in-person learning – with no infections or related interruptions.
With the Academy now in its fifth year, there is evidence in critical mass that the innovative program is generating a profound impact in young lives and in the Massachusetts life sciences ecosystem.
Seventy-eight percent of students who enroll in Gloucester Biotechnology Academy graduate — and 90 percent of those graduates go on to work in biotech with base salaries ranging from $35K to $55K (debt-free) or enroll in higher ed to study science, often with employer sponsorship.
In 2016, recent Gloucester High School graduate Kyle Richard was working at a modest minimum wage job in a Gloucester donut shop. Three years and two promotions later, Kyle is working as a Lead Clinical Lab Assistant in the Molecular Biology Core Facilities at Dana Farber.
Emily Ryan left a nursing program at a local college for financial reasons in 2019 and enrolled in the Academy shortly afterward. Today she is working at Sherlock Biosciences to develop COVID testing solutions.
“Sherlock Biosciences is very fortunate to have a dedicated team working to address COVID-19, and we count both Emily Ryan and Gloucester Biotechnology Academy as important partners in this effort,” Sherlock Chief Executive Officer Rahul Dhanda said. “Our entire team is committed to making a difference at all times and having Emily as part of our team has increased the pace of the impact we will have.”
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