Author: The Wistar Institute

Several panelists from varied backgrounds spoke to Wistar trainees about their current positions as education professionals for science departments and institutions.

What was the moment you knew you wanted to teach? How do you balance research and education? What are some skills or qualities in a person that helps them be a strong educator? These are some of the questions trainees asked education professionals at Wistar’s Education Career Panel on Friday, July 22.

The panel included Dr. Jason Diaz, Wistar’s new Education Program Director of the Institute’s Hubert J.P. Schoemaker Education and Training Center; Dr. Kate Milani, Assistant Professor at Rowan University’s School of Medicine Molecular Biology Department; and Dr. David Garbe, Director of Outreach and Education for the Pennsylvania Society for Biomedical Research (PSBR).

Panelists spoke about their personal academic and career journeys and what led them to where they are today as well as offered advice on what they wish they knew before transitioning into STEM education career paths.

“It is always an exciting and gratifying experience to witness someone’s understanding expand and puzzle pieces coming together,” Diaz shared about his motivation and favorite part of his role at Wistar. “There is a great synergy around bringing research into the classroom, and having students work on projects tied to real research really enriches the learning experience.”

On June 15, Wistar hosted a hybrid event naming this year’s Ching Jer Chern Memorial Postdoctoral Fellow and bestowing the Ching Jer Chern Memorial Awards, honoring the commitment of the Chern family to advancing scientific careers. The ceremony was attended by Mrs. June Chern and other members of the family.

Established in 2016, the Ching Jer Chern Memorial Postdoctoral Fellowship provides two years in partial salary to an excellent, early-stage, international postdoctoral fellow at The Wistar Institute. Dr. Abdurrahman Elbasir, a postdoctoral researcher in the Auslander Lab, is this year’s recipient of the prestigious fellowship. Elbasir’s research includes leveraging artificial intelligence to identify viruses related to cancer.

Previous 2020 Chern Fellow Dr. Leila Giron presented an update on her work investigating microbial translocation in the gut related to long-COVID. Giron is now a staff scientist in the Abdel-Mohsen Lab.

Two Ching Jer Chern Memorial Awardees were also recognized at this event. This award was established by June Chern in 1989 to honor her late husband Dr. Ching Jer Chern, who was a member of Wistar’s scientific staff from 1974 until his death from cancer in 1987. Co-recipients Dr. Samson Adeniji of the Abdel-Mohsen Lab and Dr. Phillip Wulfridge of the Sarma Lab were both honored for their authorship of the best scientific papers published during the year.

Adeniji’s manuscript focused on protein mechanisms underpinning how HIV infected cells evade immune surveillance and hopes to use this knowledge to harness multiple immune cells and target virus infected cells in the future. Wulfridge’s publication described a novel method of characterizing interactors with R-loops which play roles in cell processes like gene regulation and are associated with DNA damage and diseases like cancer.

“We are appreciative of the Chern family for spearheading awards like this for our Wistar trainees. We hope to continue to celebrate the excellent research the trainees are doing now to honor the memory of Dr. Ching Jer Chern,” said Dr. Kristy Shuda McGuire, Wistar’s dean of Biomedical Studies and chair of the Wistar Training Committee.

The Hubert J.P. Schoemaker Education and Training Center is adding a new training program uniquely designed to address life science industry needs. Titled the Quality Science Pathway Apprenticeship, this certification program is cost-free and provides on-the-job training and instruction for quality science roles in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. Wistar sat down with David Zuzga, Ph.D., associate dean of Biomedical Studies at the Institute, to discuss what this new program is and why it is important to infuse new talent into the Philadelphia life science workforce.

Q: Can you provide a lay-friendly overview of what Quality Science (QS) is and breakdown the role of a QS officer within the biotechnology or pharmaceutical industries?

A: Quality Science professionals ensure the safety and efficacy of medicines, diagnostics, and medical devices across the continuum of research and development (R&D), clinical trial testing, and commercial production. They are responsible for testing and certifying that these products meet the needs and expectations of doctors and patients and are free from deficiencies.

Q: Describe the demand in the region for these types of STEM-based skills.

A: Although Quality Science is an essential operation within biopharmaceutical companies, people are rarely exposed to the field before being hired into these roles and there are few opportunities for training and education, increasing the onboarding time of new employees.

Regionally, the demand for quality science professionals is expected to skyrocket as more of Philadelphia’s biotechnology companies transition from R&D to the commercial stage. In fact, the Chamber of Commerce recently established the Life Science Talent Pipeline Collaborative to ensure the region’s life science sector is supported by a talented workforce. The Collaborative identified access to quality science professionals as vital to sustaining and expanding the region’s life science industry. We have this emergent need for quality science professionals and training infrastructure, which Wistar’s Quality Science Pathway Apprenticeship (QSPA) is designed to meet.

Q: What inspired Wistar to create this apprenticeship program in collaboration with Pathway for Patient Health? Can you speak more about their role in the program?

A: I previously worked with Pathway for Patient Health (P4PH) to establish a quality science certificate program at La Salle University. I believe that combining the certificate program with the innovative biomedical apprenticeship model Wistar pioneered with its Fox Biomedical Research Technician (BRT) Program provides more equitable access to training and careers in the life sciences.

P4PH recruited industry subject matter experts to develop a curriculum that produces Certified Quality Science Professionals. The program addresses the lack of exposure to quality science and training opportunities, and helps employers access a unique talent pipeline of quality science professionals. Wistar’s Quality Science Pathway Apprenticeship combines the P4PH certificate with on-the-job training at employer sites. Online, evening courses are taught by subject matter experts from companies, connecting participants to potential future employers.

P4PH supports the Program by providing access to industry mentors and an online global hiring portal. The first course, Global Regulatory and Legal Requirements of Quality, begins in early September, and the remaining courses – Product Development and Validation, and Risk and Failure Analysis – will run in the spring. Once certified, participants will be eligible to begin full-time employment with employer partners in roles such as quality control analyst and quality control microbiologist.

Q: What career opportunities are available for those who complete the Quality Science program including reasonable salary expectations?

A: Average starting salaries for jobs supported by the program, such as quality control analysts, are ~$60,000 annually. But this is just the start. These positions are an entry point into the life science industry and a steppingstone to lucrative careers and management roles in regulatory affairs, quality assurance, and manufacturing site management.

Q: What are some of the differences between the Quality Science Pathway Apprenticeship and the existing workforce development programs at Wistar? What makes Quality Science a unique opportunity?

A: The QSPA is complementary to Wistar’s existing Biomedical Technician Training (BTT) Pre-apprenticeship Program. The BTT Program develops and hones laboratory research skills and provides internships in academic and industry settings. On the other hand, the QSPA provides an understanding of the regulatory landscape in which industry R&D operates and complies. Together, these Programs provide broad and deep training to accelerate careers in both R&D and Quality Science.

Q: How does completing this certification program particularly through Wistar benefit participants?

A: Wistar’s QSPA Program is unique in that it combines an industry certificate program with a state-registered apprenticeship offering full-time employment and 2,000 hours (one year) of on-the-job training. It has been developed in response to life science companies in the Greater Philadelphia region expressing an increasing, critical need for employees with quality science training and experience. Unlike other programs, the QSPA is a cost-free, open-access program available to diverse learners at different stages in their academic and professional careers and may include current undergraduates at two- or four-year institutions, non-current college students (some college coursework, but not currently enrolled), and recent college graduates.

Q: Why is the unique collaboration with industry partners like Pathway for Patient Health important to this Program and Wistar’s Hubert J.P. Schoemaker Education & Training Center? What does this mean for our Institute to offer these career pathways in science?

A: Our commitment to workforce training initiatives is reflected in Wistar’s 2021-2026 Bold Science // Global Impact Strategic Plan. Notably, education and training comprise one of the plan’s three pillars, with the specific goal of expanding Wistar education and training programs to create a diverse, inclusive life science talent pipeline. The QSPA enables Wistar to meet its strategic education goals by creating an innovative public-private partnership that aligns workforce needs constraining the regional biotechnology industry with a novel STEM work-based learning and training model that provides career pathways to traditionally underserved populations– ultimately increasing diversity, equity, and inclusion in the life sciences.

For more information about course details and eligibility, please visit our Quality Science Apprenticeship webpage.

The Crystal Tearoom at the Wanamaker Building was an elegant backdrop for the Philadelphia Business Journal’s 2022 CFO of the Year Awards. Wistar Institute Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Joseph Trainor, CPA, was celebrated among top honorees representing for- and non-profit health care, financial, academic, communications, sports, and other industry sectors across the region. Trainor’s outstanding leadership, especially through the tumultuous two plus years of the pandemic contributed to the immense growth and success of Wistar science.

Trainor started his Wistar career nine years ago and since then has worked to grow the Institute’s funding and endowments through careful innovative financial planning, analysis, and management. Since Wistar is a non-profit biomedical research institute, primary funding comes through federal grants and its endowment. In the last six years, Wistar has doubled its grant funding and tripled its endowment – all under the financial leadership of Trainor.

When Trainor accepted his award on stage, he answered one question: What is his guiding philosophy as CFO? Trainor said, “Surround yourself with great people, listen to them, and follow the mission. The best decisions I’ve made were those decisions made with others.”

Dr. Ian Tietjen, Research Assistant Professor in the Montaner Lab, recently returned from Cameroon where he is collaborating with scientists who are developing a new drug discovery research facility that will study medicinal plants, natural product compounds, and locally-synthesized chemical compounds to treat infectious diseases.

Dr. Tietjen’s international collaboration with his colleague Dr. Fidel Ntie-Kang of the University of Buea began in 2015. Ntie-Kang, a computational chemist, specializes in drug and protein interactions to make predictions about how natural product compounds might interact with therapeutic targets. Tietjen has collaborated in conducting computational chemical screens across huge libraries of millions of compounds to find which ones might be interacting the best for future clinical use.

Ntie-Kang approached Tietjen to forge a new collaboration around capacity building and knowledge exchange. When finished, this new drug discovery facility now under construction at the University of Buea will have about a dozen African researchers working on natural medicinal products and other chemical compounds for antiviral drug discovery and development.

This past trip, Tietjen traveled to Cameroon to assess the University’s plans and help create a strategy that would best apply Wistar’s resources to their needs. Beginning in September 2022, Wistar will host three scientists from the University of Buea for a year, including Ntie-Kang, for immersive training in the many laboratory techniques that Wistar researchers carry out so they may bring this expertise and capacity back to the University of Buea. Next year, Tietjen intends to return to Cameroon with the University of Buea research team to train local students and new staff at the drug discovery facility in molecular and cell biology and drug discovery techniques.

“This collaboration gives us the unique chance to share our research and education expertise with researchers and students that might otherwise not get a chance to work with us,” Tietjen says. “However, because Dr. Ntie-Kang and his colleagues are already established scientists in computational chemistry, natural product chemistry, and infectious diseases that disproportionately affect people in low-income countries, we have just as much to learn from them, if not more, than they do from us.”

Tietjen also has other research collaborations underway in South Africa, Botswana, Ghana, and Guinea centered around identifying chemical compounds from traditional medicinal plants used for COVID-19 and HIV management and elucidating their mechanisms of action.