NEW BIOTECHNOLOGY DEGREE PROGRAM FOCUS
OF
$1M TO UH COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY
Texas Workforce Commission Grant to Help UH Develop New Curriculum,
Training
HOUSTON, Aug. 9, 2006 – Whether it’s advancing health
care, enhancing food science or supporting agriculture, biotechnology
has become a high-growth industry. Now, universities must prepare
students for careers in this emergent field. Recognizing a need
for trained professionals in this area, the Texas Workforce Commission
(TWC) awarded $1 million to the University of Houston’s College
of Technology to develop a new biotechnology baccalaureate program.
Titled “Bridges to the Future – Initiating a Comprehensive
Biotechnology Program at UH,” the grant will assist the college’s
Center for Life Sciences Technology (CLiST) in creating an interdisciplinary
bachelor of science degree in biotechnology and short-term training
programs aimed at industry professionals.
Rupa Iyer, UH research associate professor, is designing the program’s
curriculum. Two of its courses are project-based laboratory classes
developed by Iyer in collaboration with Melinda Wales, Texas A&M
associate research scientist and chief scientific officer of Reactive
Services, an Austin-based biotechnology company. These laboratory
classes will integrate bioinformatics, bioprocessing and nanobiotechnolgy
and will be connected through a common theme, a soil bacterium that
encodes a pesticide degrading gene, placing the program’s
emphasis on environmental biotechnology.
“This will take students right from the process of scientific
discovery to its applications in biotechnology,” Iyer said.
“To my knowledge, no other institution in Texas has done this
at an undergraduate level.”
The degree program is expected to be presented to the UH System
Board of Regents in spring 2007 and then to the Texas Higher Education
Coordinating Board for approval.
CLiST’s short-term training programs will be targeted toward
biotechnology professionals needing to upgrade their skills. They
will be taught both in person and online. Titles for short courses
in development include Current Good Manufacturing Practices, Biotechnology
Regulatory Environment and Biotechnology Techniques.
“Bridges to the Future” is the second major grant received
by CLiST this year. In March, the Office of the Governor presented
the center with $372,000 from its Wagner Payser Grant program. Using
these funds, CLiST initiated its first steps in creating a consortium
of higher education institutions and private sector enterprises
to address biotechnology education and training requirements and
developing the Web portal www.TexasBioTech,org to disseminate industry
information.
“Receiving this kind of support validates our mission,”
said Chris Baca, director of CLiST. “It shows that the state
is indeed interested in supporting the infra-structure of the biotechnology
industry.”
Biotechnology is the application of technology using biological
systems to develop products or provide
solutions for industries such as medicine and agriculture. Its most
recognized applications are in the development of drugs such as
those used in treating cancer and heart disease. It is also employed
in food science and nanotechnology.
“The biotechnology and life sciences industry needs a skilled
and experienced workforce for developing, manufacturing and selling
products such as small-molecule and biological therapeutics, diagnostics
and medical devices,” said William Fitzgibbon, dean of the
College of Technology. “Because these products and their manufacture
are complex and often highly regulated, the professionals needed
for the businesses that sell them require extensive, often lengthy,
technically specialized training.”
The U.S. Department of Labor has cited biotechnology as a high growth
industry, and identified its three primary workforce issues as recruitment,
training and education. In 2002, Texas Gov. Rick Perry established
the Governor’s Council on Science and Biotechnology Development
describing the industry as “the wave of the future when it
comes to health care.”
UH’s College of Technology offers undergraduate and graduate
degrees related to practical technology and consumer science. Its
curriculum includes programs in engineering technology, information
technology, logistics, merchandising and life sciences technology.
About the University of Houston
The University of Houston, Texas’ premier metropolitan research
and teaching institution, is home to more than 40 research centers
and institutes and sponsors more than 300 partnerships with corporate,
civic and governmental entities. UH, the most diverse research university
in the country, stands at the forefront of education, research and
service with more than 35,000 students.
For more information about UH visit
the universitys Newsroom at www.uh.edu/admin/media/newsroom.
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