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NEW BIOTECHNOLOGY TRAINING PROGRAM AT U.VA. RECEIVES $1 MILLION

The University of Virginia School of Medicine has received $1 million over five years from the National Institutes of Health to support a new, interdisciplinary biotechnology training program. The university-wide program will offer Ph.D.-level graduate students the chance to work alongside leading scientists in both an academic and industrial setting.

According to Gordon Laurie, associate professor of cell biology and program director, the program addresses a strong local, statewide and national need for a new generation of scientists capable of working across disciplines to translate biological, chemical and engineering principles into technological discoveries.

Biotechnology companies want well trained students, and our program will give students both the research skills and an understanding of the industrial culture, Laurie said. About half of graduate students in the biosciences go on to work in biotechnology companies, so this type of program is designed to give them an added advantage.

As part of the training program, students will participate in externships in industrial research and product development. Giving students the opportunity to work in biotechnology companies will help them understand the daily life of industrial research, which is quite different from an academic setting, Laurie said.

Biotechnology companies working with U.Va. to provide externships include, Abbott Laboratories, Genzyme Corporation, GlaxoWellcome, Merck Research Laboratories, SmithKline Beecham and Hoechst Marion Roussel, among others. Several local training opportunities include Mosaic Technologies Inc., Pacific-Sierra Research, PRA International and the U.Va. Patent Foundation.

For additional information on the training program, the Web site is http://hsc.virginia.edu/ed-programs/gpo/biotech.

June 13, 2000