Traditional graduate training focuses on technical skill development via coursework models siloed into specific departments and research areas. However, these instructional methods fail to provide students with the multidisciplinary training required to succeed and lead in the rapidly growing biopharma industry. Our team aims to build a 21st-century workforce by directly addressing critical knowledge gaps through a first-of-its-kind course which: 1) teaches industry-relevant concepts necessary for biotechnology innovation and translation, 2) leverages real-world case studies to link class work to students’ ongoing research projects, and 3) enables career network building. Central to our proposal is an educational pedagogy centered on direct engagement with industry partners as discussion leaders and guest lecturers with direct, and sustained, interaction to help trainees reframe their research into translational commercial value propositions. Our proposed educational framework will promote practical training, strategic leadership, and continued education to address the challenges unique to life science technologies and amplify our doctoral trainees as the new generation industry leaders.
Philip Keegan, Ph.D. is the Public-Private Partnership Leadat the Forward BIO Institute located at the University of Wisconsin –Madison. The Forward BIO Institute is a campus-wide organization dedicated to catalyzing biomanufacturing innovation and entrepreneurship, from the ground up, through novel educational and technology accelerator programs. At the Institute, Dr. Keegan leverages his professional expertise in bioengineering, technology development, and project management to design and operate the Innovators in Training (IIT) program, a novel biomanufacturing workforce development program. Dr. Keeganearned his B.S. in biomedical engineering from Boston University and Ph.D. in biomedical engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University. Prior to joining the Forward BIO Institute, Dr. Keegan served as the Technical Director of a multi-million dollar program at Draper, where he managed an interdisciplinary team of biologists and engineers working to humanize Pfizer’s drug development pipeline via micro-physiological organ-on-a-chip models.
