Sasheyra Foster, of Worcester (center), works with other participants during the lab activity at “What the Heck is Biotech?”
Local people interested in the biotechnology industry visited UMass Chan Medical School last week to learn about career opportunities at every level and the educational requirements to pursue a new career pathway.
The free LabCentral Ignite community workshop, “What the Heck is Biotech?,” was held on April 24 in partnership with MassBioEd, a statewide program working toward building a sustainable life sciences workforce, and co-hosted by ScienceLIVE, a UMass Chan STEM outreach program aiming to increase science literacy and inspire individuals who are interested in pursuing STEM careers.
Sasheyra Foster, of Worcester, said her interest in exploring career opportunities in the biotech field developed only recently and she found the workshop an informative introduction to biotechnology.
“I’m ready to see what’s available and dip my toes in,” Foster said.
Shadrack Frempong (left), of Boston, works with a partner during the lab activity at “What the Heck is Biotech?”
Michelle Mischke, vice president of biotechnology education programs at MassBioEd, emphasized the importance of events like this to inform career-minded adults from underrepresented groups to pursue careers in biotech.
Mischke said she sees two groups of people making changes based on participating in biotech workshops: parents who want to see their student apply to medical school; and people with transferable skills who could pursue a career as a lab technician for financial stability.
“There are guardians, caretakers and parents of individuals who participate in one of these workshops and find out for the first time that their student can graduate from high school and enter an apprenticeship program in medical sciences,” Mischke said. “There are opportunities for people that don’t want to be in debt. You can impact human health and not have to go to medical school.”
A discussion panel included, from left, Hailey Feinzig, a research associate and lab technician at UMass Chan, Julia Wardell, associate program manager for LabCentral Ignite and Mary Pickering, PhD, director of public engagement with science for the RNA Therapeutics Institute.
The workshop included a presentation from Mischke; a panel discussion with Mary Pickering, PhD, director of public engagement with science for the RNA Therapeutics Institute at UMass Chan; Hailey Feinzig, a research associate and lab technician at UMass Chan; and Julia Wardell, associate program manager for LabCentral Ignite; and a lab activity using gel electrophoresis to look at small molecules in proteins.
