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For Immediate Release
CBIA ANNOUNCES NEW COURSE TO TRAIN WORKERS IN
The Connecticut Business & Industry Association today announced a new course to train workers with technological and scientific skills needed to fill high-demand, high-wage jobs in the state’s fast-growing biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. The new course, “Principles of Quality Assurance in Pharmaceutical Drug Manufacturing and Biotechnology,” is the second in a series of courses to be offered addressing Good Manufacturing Practices. The course is offered through the University of Connecticut’s (UConn’s) Professional Science Master’s (PSM) Program. The course will satisfy requirements toward a proposed graduate-level certificate in biotechnology and pharmaceutical practices. The program is part of a joint effort among CBIA, Connecticut United for Research Excellence (CURE), CuraGen Corp., Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals Inc. and UConn. The organizations are working together to continue the state’s history of having a strong, world-class workforce by increasing students’ and current workers’ knowledge and skills in areas needed in the biotech and pharmaceutical industries. “The program brings educational priorities in line with the needs of Connecticut’s high-tech businesses to produce graduates who have the requirements needed for today’s competitive and changing bioscience industry,” said Judith Resnick, CBIA’s director of workforce development and training. UConn will be the only university in the state to offer a graduate certificate program in biotechnology and pharmaceutical practices on behalf of the state’s bioscience industry. The program will be part of the school’s PSM degree, which was established under a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. The program is intended to prepare students for high-tech careers. The certificate program is designed for current employees of the state’s bioscience industry, as well as for students who intend to pursue careers in the bioscience industry. The courses cover regulatory affairs, quality assurance, responsible conduct of research in academia and industry, genetic engineering and functional genomics, applied/industrial microbiology, molecular aspects of genetics, and insights into the biotechnology industry. Students who complete the credit requirements may elect to receive a graduate certificate or apply the credits toward a master’s degree in the PSM program in applied genomics or microbial systems analysis. The curriculum for the second course, “Principles of Quality Assurance in Pharmaceutical Drug Manufacturing and Biotechnology,” was developed by Dr. Hans Scholl, director of quality assurance and CMC at CuraGen. “The classroom study is designed to give students the opportunity to work in a regulated science-based environment, learning the skills necessary to secure jobs in the industry,” said Scholl. The course will feature lectures by distinguished experts from Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals Inc. and other industry leaders from state and regional bioscience companies. The first course held in May 2005, “Regulatory Issues in Biotechnology,” led by Dr. Cyrus Karkaria, CuraGen assistant director of protein purification, featured lectures by distinguished scientific faculty experts from academia and local and regional bioscience companies. “The involvement of industry representatives as lecturers provides students with a unique opportunity to obtain hands-on information from leading experts in the field,” said Scholl. CBIA provides partial tuition support for qualified students and current employees from bioscience and pharmaceutical companies. This tuition assistance is made possible through a $3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor to address specific educational and training needs of the bioscience industry. The goal of the program is to sustain a flow of skilled scientists from universities to work in the bioscience and biomedical industry while reducing the industry’s reliance on foreign H-1B visa workers. Employees or students seeking information about the program or wanting to register for the course should contact Elaine Mirkin, assistant, Professional Master’s Program, elaine.mirkin@uconn.edu, or Amy Doherty, CBIA grants manager, dohertya@cbia.com or 860-244-1900. ### CBIA is Connecticut’s largest business organization, with 10,000 members. CURE is a statewide coalition of over 100 biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, educational and research institutions, and other supporting businesses. For more information contact Nancy Andrews, CBIA media relations manager, at 860-244-1957 or andrewsn@cbia.com. 350 Church
Street · Hartford, CT 06103-1126 · cbia.com/newsroom
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