University of Virginia Health System

NATIONAL BIOTECH LEADERS TO ATTEND U.VA. SYMPOSIUM

The rapidly growing field of human genome research is making biotechnology companies eager for new recruits who can develop new genetically-based therapies. To help meet this demand, the Biotechnology Training Program at the University of Virginia Health System is hosting a symposium on Thursday, April 11, titled Connecting Cell Behaviors to Manufactured Therapeutics for representatives from leading biotechnology firms and top universities across the nation.

The event is scheduled from 8:45 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. in the Omni Hotel Ballroom, with several sessions that feature speakers from biotechnology corporations and faculty from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Duke and Johns Hopkins universities.

We are extremely excited that some of the largest and most established biotechnology firms in the world feel our multidisciplinary training program is producing the kind of new student they want to hire in the future, said Thomas Skalak, chairman and professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering at U.Va.

In addition to firms such as Genzyme, a leader in production of proteins which play key roles in disease, Skalak said many next generation firms will attend the conference. One example is Beyond Genomics, which develops new drug targets through sophisticated, multifaceted gene circuits.

The U.Va. Biotechnology Training Program received a five-year grant of $1 million from the National Institutes of Health in 2000 for the interdisciplinary training program, which offers Ph.D.-level graduate students the chance to work alongside leading scientists in academic and industrial settings.

Many U.Va. students' externships are already underway. Other biotechnology companies working with U.Va. to provide externships include The Institute for Genomic Research, Genentech, Human Genome Sciences, Abbott Laboratories, Fibrogen, Large Scale Biology Corporation, Merck Research Laboratories, GlaxoSmithKline and Hoechst Marion Roussel. Local firms include Biotage, Protein Solutions, Inc., Pacific-Sierra Research, PRA International and the U.Va. Patent Foundation.

Immersion in a professional environment gives our students the crucial advantage of understanding the daily operations of industrial research and product development, said Gordon Laurie, associate professor of cell biology and training program director. The companies we talk to are always eager for highly qualified students like ours to train.

In addition to U.Va. students, the symposium has invited undergraduates from Hampton University, Virginia Union University, James Madison University and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University to attend the symposium. They are invited to submit entries for proposed biotechnology research projects. Winning entries will receive cash awards. Many of these students will attend as part of Spring Minority Student Day.

The symposium agenda is on the web site: http://hsc.virginia.edu/ed-programs/gpo/biotech/biotech_symposiumintro.html.

April 1, 2002