For 25 years Wistar has led the way in training students both locally and internationally for careers in the life science sector. The origins of Wistar’s commitment to training started with Dr. William Wunner, Wistar professor emeritus and a widely respected rabies researcher.
In the 90s Dr. Wunner helped create the oral rabies vaccine delivered in the form of edible bait for wild animals at a time when rabies was a serious public health issue in the U.S. The thinking was simple: animal-to-human transmission is far less likely if fewer animals have rabies. By dropping appetizing vaccines into the wilderness, the technology Wunner helped to develop successfully inoculated thousands of animals against the rabies virus.
Dr. Wunner’s initial foray into education & training began with his passion for creating career pathways for people interested in the life science sector. Looking back on Wistar’s Hubert J.P. Schoemaker Education and Training Center since then, he says that his greatest expectations have been surpassed.
The Biomedical Technician Training Program, or BTT Program, accepted its first cohort of trainees in 2000 under Dr. Wunner’s oversight. Since then, the Program has expanded greatly, teaming up with 5 community colleges and 13 employer partners to support 19 students this summer in their pursuit of careers in the life sciences. Over the last 25 years, over 230 community college students have completed the BTT Program: 66% are women, 47% are from underrepresented races/ethnicities, 48% have obtained related positions and 68% have continued their education within the first year.
Following a Laboratory Orientation where students learn in-demand skills from Wistar’s expert team of science educators, Program participants have the opportunity to apply and practice these skills in professional laboratories. Each trainee is placed in complementary lab experiences in academic, industry or core facilities. Partners include top biomedical research, biotechnology and pharmaceutical labs throughout the Greater Philadelphia region. Through these experiences, students gain the competence and confidence to make them strong candidates for various life science careers.
As the founder and previous director of the Program, Dr. Wunner stressed the importance of trainees accepting challenges, exploring opportunities, developing an awareness of professional resources, establishing good contacts, and making lasting impressions with mentors to turn aspirations into realities.
Dr. Wunner always encouraged the trainees to get to know three to five mentors who could provide knowledge, skills, and feedback through their professional development. According to his philosophy, trainees should see themselves as others see them, and they should challenge themselves to grow as team members and leaders by helping others reach their goals together.
Dr. Wunner worked hard to understand the strengths of each trainee. He always considered how trainees worked and what they could contribute in order to recommend them for positions in laboratories that best matched their professional objectives while supporting the laboratory team. That way, he believed and still believes, each trainee will grow and achieve their own personal goals.
“Dr. Wunner really taught me how to support each student, placing them in the laboratories in which they would be most successful, and this has allowed the continued success of the BTT Program and our expansion to additional students” said Dr. Kristy Shuda McGuire, dean of biomedical studies and director of the Hubert J.P. Schoemaker Education and Training Center.
In 2017 with support from Wistar, Dr. Wunner registered the first Biomedical Research Technician (BRT) Apprenticeship in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The Apprenticeship, now named the Fox BRT Apprenticeship, allowed the long-running BTT Program to become a state-registered pre-apprenticeship in 2019.
In 2021 Dr. Kristy Shuda McGuire, who had worked with Dr. Wunner while recruiting and supporting students from the Community College of Philadelphia (CCP) in the Program, took on the work at Wistar for which Dr. Wunner cared so deeply. Under her leadership, the BTT Program and other education and training initiatives at Wistar have expanded greatly. Dean Shuda McGuire saw the potential to build on the BTT Program’s success to make training in the biomedical field accessible to more and diverse participants, including students from Cheyney University, the nation’s first historically Black college or university (HBCU), and other undergraduate institutions, as well as adults looking to upskill or re-skill.
The Wistar students recognized in the Summer 2024 Completion Ceremony included high school, community college, and other undergraduate students from diverse, non-traditional backgrounds — including first-generation college students, new immigrants to the U.S., students with little prior exposure to STEM curricula, and participants in career transition, honing their skills for new positions. Their futures are wide open; past Wistar trainees have gone on to successful careers in science and healthcare thanks to their experience in these programs.
Year after year Wistar’s Summer Completion Ceremony is a moving and transformative celebration for the students and their loved ones. The students leave grateful for the opportunity and prepared for the next step in their journey for careers in the life sciences.
