A German-US faculty/intern exchange program in biotechnology (original) (raw)

Global Clinics in Biotechnology: A Global Partnership between Industry and Academia

In the XXI st Century, access to high-speed and internet communication poses an interesting paradigm in engineering and science education, relying on the capability of academia to incorporate a global and interdisciplinary conscience into students' learning. Industry has, for a long time, lead globalization efforts due to its world-wide business nature. With this in mind, the Global Clinic in Biotechnology was established through collaboration among two academic partners, Harvey Mudd College and the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus; and an industrial sponsor, Amgen Manufacturing, Limited. Student teams from the universities, of diverse cultural backgrounds and different disciplines of study, were assigned an industrial problem to be solved as a team. Each university branch was assigned faculty and industrial mentors. Faculty mentors provided counseling on the project's theoretical concepts at their campuses. Industrial mentors provided expertise on the project's goals and applied experimental setup. Thus, the experience of networking students from different cultural and disciplinary backgrounds was facilitated by the mentors. Progress on project, and consulting among teams, were communicated weekly using teleconferences or videoconferences. This paper will expose in detail how the Global Clinic in Biotechnology was established, how academia and industry collaborated to define an industrial project, and how the experience incorporated a global and interdisciplinary experience on the student's educational profiles.

Biotechnology's special forces: Field-based medical science liaisons

Journal of Commercial Biotechnology, 2004

Biotechnology companies with a product commercialisation strategy are deploying field-based medical science liaisons (MSLs) to increase awareness of a therapeutic market, support clinical trials, and educate the healthcare community on appropriate product utilisation. Attracting experienced MSLs to smaller or younger companies remains a significant challenge for MSL directors. Comprehensive MSL training programmes are also lacking at young biotechnology companies, even though directors interviewed in this paper all agreed that training is a key provision to equip MSLs for quality performance. As field-based medical programmes are expanding in the biopharmaceutical industry, small MSL teams often compete in the same market dominated by large pharmaceutical MSL forces. Small teams that are staffed with experienced MSLs, trained rigorously on both technical and non-technical competencies, and motivated toward effective teamwork are positioned for success. Medical science liaison directors who proactively communicate with senior management on the value that MSLs bring to their companies are more likely to obtain resources for training and will leverage their MSL programmes for growth.

Biotechnology education in Europe

Journal of Commercial Biotechnology, 2003

This study was not intended as a catalogue, but as a comparative overview of the range of opportunities for education in biotechnology open to citizens in the various member states of the EU -opportunities organised by governments and their agencies, by educational establishments, by a wide variety of organisations and institutions variously interested in informing/influencing public attitudes and, of course, by the media in its many forms. Switzerland was included because of its experience of a referendum on genetics and biotechnology as well as the USA, where it all started. A number of suggestions are made for improving public understanding of biotechnology and for establishing a code of best practice taking into account the cultural differences between countries. Perhaps the most important is that biotechnology education is a long-term issue requiring a long-term view; it should not be constrained by short-term funding.

Raising to the Challenge: Building a Federated Biobank to Accelerate Translational Research—The University Biobank Limburg

Frontiers in Medicine, 2019

Irreproducibility of research results is one of the major contributing factors to the failure of translating basic research results into tangible bedside progress. To address this, the University Biobank Limburg (UBiLim) was founded by a collaboration between Hasselt University, the Hospital East-Limburg, and the Jessa Hospital. This paper describes the evolution of this process and the barriers encountered on the way. UBiLim evolved from an archival collection over a single-site biobank into a federated structure, supporting translational research at the founding institutions. Currently, UBiLim is a federated biobank, with an established organizational structure and processing, and storage facilities at each of the three sites. All activities are integrated in an ISO15189-accredited Quality Management System and based on (inter)national biobank guidelines. Common methods for processing and storage of a plethora of sample types, suitable for state-of-the-art applications, were validated and implemented. Because the biobank is embedded in two hospitals, the request of researchers to include certain sample types or enroll specific patient groups can quickly be met. Funding has been a major challenge in each step of its evolution and remains the biggest issue for long-term biobank sustainability. To a lesser extent, the Belgian legislation and the operational cost of information management system are also concerns for smooth biobank operations. Nonetheless, UBiLim serves as a facilitator and accelerator for translational research in the Limburg area of Belgium that, given the fields of research, may have an impact on international patient care.

"International Scientific Cooperation is needed to Bridge Science to Society." [co-author]. In SN Comprehensive Clinical Medicine. (May 2021)

Comprehensive Clinical Medicine, 2021

Scientific collaboration has been a critical aspect of the development of all fields of science, particularly clinical medicine. It is well understood that myriads of benefits can be yielded by interdisciplinary and international collaboration. For instance, our rapidly growing knowledge on COVID-19 and vaccine development could not be attained without expanded collaborative activities. However, achieving fruitful results requires mastering specific tactics in collaborative efforts. These activities can enhance our knowledge, which ultimately benefits society. In addition to tackling the issue of the invisible border between different countries, institutes, and disciplines, the border between the scientific community and society needs to be addressed as well. International and transdisciplinary approaches can potentially be the best solution for bridging science and society. The Universal Scientific Education and Research Network (USERN) is a non-governmental, non-profit organization and network to promote professional, scientific research and education worldwide. The fifth annual congress of USERN was held in Tehran, Iran, in a hybrid manner on November 7-10, 2020, with key aims of bridging science to society and facilitating borderless science. Among speakers of the congress, a group of top scientists unanimously agreed on The USERN 2020 consensus, which is drafted with the goal of connecting society with scientific scholars and facilitating international and interdisciplinary scientific activities in all fields, including clinical medicine.

Open for collaboration: an academic platform for drug discovery and development at SciLifeLab

Drug Discovery Today, 2016

and Development (SciLifeLab DDD) platform reaches out to Swedish academia with an industry-standard infrastructure for academic drug discovery, supported by earmarked funds from the Swedish government. In this review, we describe the build-up and operation of the platform, and reflect on our first two years of operation, with the ambition to share learnings and best practice with academic drug discovery centers globally. We also discuss how the Swedish Teacher Exemption Law, an internationally unique aspect of the innovation system, has shaped the operation. Furthermore, we address how this investment in infrastructure and expertise can be utilized to facilitate international collaboration between academia and industry in the best interest of those ultimately benefiting the most from translational pharmaceutical research-the patients. Swedish pharmaceutical industry and research Being a small country with only 10 million inhabitants, Sweden has a proud history of successful organic growth of its pharmaceutical industry with companies such as Kabi [the first company to license Genentech's recombinant DNA technology later overtaken by Pharmacia (subsequently merging with Upjohn, and later being closed as a part of Pfizer)], Hässle (bought by Astra) and Astra (merged with Zeneca to form AstraZeneca). Even today, after the closure of three out of four major global pharma research sites located in Sweden, pharmaceuticals still represent one of Sweden's largest export products (a large part originating from AstraZenca's manufacturing plant in Södertälje). The aftermath of the industry's turbulent reorganization has created several geographical areas with strong life science innovation capacity [i.e. Stockholm/Uppsala (51% of life science companies), Malmö/Lund (19%) and Göteborg (17%)], hosting a plethora of smaller biotech companies (the largest now being Medivir outside Stockholm) [1]. Many of the products that became the cornerstones of the Swedish pharma and biotech industry (

BBMRI-ERIC as a resource for pharmaceutical and life science industries: the development of biobank-based Expert Centres

European journal of human genetics : EJHG, 2014

Biological resources (cells, tissues, bodily fluids or biomolecules) are considered essential raw material for the advancement of health-related biotechnology, for research and development in life sciences, and for ultimately improving human health. Stored in local biobanks, access to the human biological samples and related medical data for transnational research is often limited, in particular for the international life science industry. The recently established pan-European Biobanking and BioMolecular resources Research Infrastructure-European Research Infrastructure Consortium (BBMRI-ERIC) aims to improve accessibility and interoperability between academic and industrial parties to benefit personalized medicine, disease prevention to promote development of new diagnostics, devices and medicines. BBMRI-ERIC is developing the concept of Expert Centre as public-private partnerships in the precompetitive, not-for-profit field to provide a new structure to perform research projects t...