Biotechnology is Impacting the

Practice of Medicine

Dr. Judy Kjelstrom (aka Dr. Judy)Director, UC Davis Biotechnology Program

IST 190 lecture

20101

Outline

• Biotechnology’s impact in biomedicine

• UC Davis efforts in Translational Research

• UC Davis Biomedical Start-ups

• Biotech Industry in Northern California

• New Trends

• UC Davis Educational Programs

Medicine Nutrition Informatics

Cross platform

technologies driving

convergence:

High Throughput Analyses,

Metabolomics, Genomics,

Proteomics, Systems Biology,

Nanotechnology

Agriculture

New Approaches and

Technologies for Promoting

Global Health and Food

Security

Convergence in the Life Sciences

Biotechnology is Changing the Biomedical World

• Health Sciences– Rapid diagnostics using microarrays, qPCR, sequencing,

bioinformatics, etc.

– New medical technology: nanotechnology, microfluidics, laser surgery, non-invasive imaging, etc.

– Personalized therapy and personalized diets based on genotype, epigenetics, metabolomics…

– Regenerative medicine using stem cells (adult and embryonic)

• Pharmaceutical Biotechnology– New immunotherapies and biologics for targeted cancer

treatments, autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, etc.

– The application of microbial genomics and metagenomics to develop new vaccines and antimicrobials for infectious diseases

• Agricultural Biotechnology– Genetically enhanced crops & livestock including ―Pharming‖-

pharmaceuticals and vaccines made by plants and livestock

The work in the 1990’s is transforming how we approach healthcare

As of 2004, there are ~25,000 genes

Valuable resource in the

classroom!!!!

National Institute for Biotechnological Information http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/

TIGR is a good public

database for looking at

gene sequences from a

number of species.. This

allows scientists to do

comparative genomics

(look for similarities in the

DNA of other species)

www.tigr.org

“Biotechnology: The Tools to Forge a Better

Tomorrow” is our Mission

• The UC Davis Biotechnology Program is a Special Program of the Office of Research. est. 1986

• Directed by Dr. Judy Kjelstrom and Dr. Denneal Jamison McClung

• Housed within the offices of the Dean of the College of Biological Sciences

• Administrative home for the DEB & ADP graduate programs, NSF and NIH Biotechnology Training Grants (work with multiple partners)

• Links Academia to Biotechnology Industries & Government agencies

• Education Source for Researchers, Students, Teachers, and Community

– Summer Technical Short Courses on Cutting Edge Topics for Researchers

– “Train the Trainers” workshops for high school and community college teachers

– Home of BioTECH SYSTEM (K-14 outreach consortium for STEM education) and (TBC) Teen Biotech Challenge (science competition)

8www.biotech.ucdavis.edu

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UC Davis has Strong Intellectual Capital in the Biosciences

• UC Davis Genome Center in the Genome and Biomedical Sciences Facility (GBSF)

• Clinical and Translational Science Center (CTSC)• Institute of Regenerative Cures (new GMP facility)• Center for Biophotonics Science and Technology

(CBST)• UC Davis Cancer Center – NCI designated cancer

facility• California National Primate Research Center• Center for Comparative Medicine & Mouse Biology

Program• Center for Metabolomics• National Center of Excellence in Nutritional

Genomics –focus on minority health• M.I.N.D Institute – focus on autism• Foods for Health Initiative

Interdisciplinary Collaboration is a Hallmark of UC Davis Teaching & Research

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Genome & Biomedical Sciences Facility

• The UC Davis Genome Center houses

faculty as well as provides core service

facilities for genomics, proteomics and

related areas to all scientists on campus.

• There are 5 core facilities: 1) The

Expression Analysis Core; 2) The

Bioinformatics Core; 3) The DNA

Technologies Core; 4) The Proteomics

Core and 5) The Metabolomics Core

• The Genome Center serves as a “technology

antenna” for genomics on campus under

the direction of the center’s director, Richard

Michelmore (Prof. of Genetics).

• The center now has 13 faculty, with joint

appointments in the Genome Center and

departments in engineering, chemistry and

the College of Biological Sciences. Their

research links biology with applied

research in medicine, veterinary medicine

and agriculture.

The DNA Technologies Core provides Single Nucleotide

Polymorphism (SNP) analysis, with the capability to run low

to very high throughput assays with no constraints on the

minimum or maximum number of samples. Illumina

BeadArray and Bead Express systems are available to

analyze 12 to 1536 SNPs/sample. An Illumina Genome

Analyzer is available for a variety of applications including

SNP discovery

Stem Cell Research at UC Davis• Director: Jan Nolta, Ph.D.,

– Scientific Director, GMP Laboratory

• Associate Directors:– David Pleasure, M.D.

– Alice Tarantal, Ph.D.

• Key Personnel:– Gerhard Bauer, M.D. – Director, GMP Laboratory

– Carol Richman, Ph.D. – Medical Director, GMP Laboratory

– Jon Walker – Supervisor, Laboratory Quality Control

– Karen Pepper – Director, Retroviral and Lentiviral Vector Core

– Carol Oxford – Director, FACS Core (shared between Sacramento and Davis campuses)

– Immunodeficient Mouse Core contacts: Jan Nolta, Yetsy Olusanya, Bill Gruenloh

The new GMP facility (Institute for Regenerative Cures) has just been commissioned on March 11, 2010 to generate stem cells from somatic tissues like skin and hair follicles. These iPS cells can be be put back into the patient to home in on injured tissue such as blood vessels, liver, heart, etc.

see March 10th issue in the Sac Bee: http://www.sacbee.com/2010/03/10/2595672/uc-davis-62-millionl-center-puts.html

Scientists Jan A. Nolta

and Gerhard Bauer will

provide key leadership for

UC Davis' Stem Cell

Research program.

Regenerative Medicine

has great potential in

the 21st Century

http://www.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu/

stemcellresearch/

UCDMC’s Center for Tissue Regeneration & Repair is using a

Systems Approach. Led by Dr. Hari Reddy

It takes multidisciplinary teams to approach Big Problems in Medicine

Tissue engineering is an example

of using biotechnology in

medicine.

Immunoconjugates shows promise in

Cancer Treatment…. A Magic Bullet?

See Preclinica, Jan/Feb 2004, pg 27-30

Currently approved therapeutic antibodies:

Panorex colorectal cancer

Rituxin non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma

Herceptin metastic breast cancer

Mylotarg* acute myeloid leukemia

Campath B-cell chronic lymphocytic

leukemia

Zevalin* non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma

*conjugated with radioisotope or cytotoxin

NCMHDCenter of Excellence forNutritional Genomics

Nutritional Genomics:Linking nutrition, genomics and

human health

Raymond L. Rodriguez, Director

Center of Excellence in Nutritional Genomics

Section of Molecular and Cellular Biology

University of California, Davis

Davis, California

http://nutrigenomics.ucdavis.edu

NCMHDCenter of Excellence forNutritional Genomics

Nutritional genomics examines the molecular

interactions between genes and nutritional stimuli,

and how these interactions promote health

or cause disease

NCMHDCenter of Excellence forNutritional Genomics

Scientific American Jan 2003

Exercise & Genotype must be included

Metabolomics =

The study of metabolites arising from the breakdown of

chemicals in the body

• Lipomics Technologies in West Sacramento is creating lipid profiles in humans and lab animals (compare profiles of health vs. disease or drug therapy). – Dr. Steve Watkins, President and founder (graduate

of the German lab)

• UC Davis’s Center for Metabolomics.– Directed by Dr. Bruce German, Food Science and

Technology.

– Goal: build the basis knowledge framework to support personalized metabolic health.

Metabolomics: Building the roads to

personalized health (per Bruce German at 2003

CIFAR conference)

• Foods are, ideally, a source of nourishment as

well as delight, comfort, fuel and protection.

• However, inappropriate choices in diet lead to

metabolic imbalances propelling diseases such

as atherosclerosis, obesity and type II

diabetes.

• The problem is that the same diet is not not

ideal for everyone.

• The basic knowledge framework to support

personalized metabolic health will need several

elements:

– Technology to measure metabolites

– Metabolite databases from various subsets of

the population to describe different phenotypes

– Predictive methods how to change diet to guide

metabolism

Comfort Food may not be

the Best Choices

Engineers are involved in Biotech too!

• Bioprocessing

• Nanotechnology

• Biophotonics

• Biosensors & Microfluidics

• Synthetic Biology

• Biomedical Engineering

– Tissue engineering

– Micro-PET scans

NSF Center for Biophotonics Science and

Technology (CBST)

Dennis Matthews, Director

Emphasis on integrative research,

education, and knowledge transfer

in biophotonics

Stanford

UC Davis

LLNL

Fisk

Alabama A&M

UC Berkeley

Hampton

UT San Antonio

UC San Francisco

Mills

Lead campus

Located across from the

UCD Medical Center in

Sacramento

Use of lasers in medicine and

basic research

Portable Pathogen Detector

Classifier Image

Reporter Image

Hand-held instrument Immunoassay using

optically encoded beads

for multiplex capability

Image bead and reporter

fluorescence, perform

image analysis, and score

results

Classifiers Reporter

CCD

Camera

Sample

Laser Laser M

M

M

DC DC

L

F

M-Division

To detect anthrax spores, MDRTB,

smallpox virus, toxins, etc.

Translational TrendGenome Technology Feb 2007

• The new buzzword is not going away!

• With Major investment from NIH (The Bench to Bedside

Roadmap) and Big Pharma and some early successes in

the Clinical World, Translational Medicine is proving it has

staying power.

• Pharmacogenomics,and other tools designed to bring

research advances to the patient are key elements

• Short on People, not on Problems!

• For the public-sector scientists, translational

medicine means paying attention to the clinical

applications of research even during the basic

stages.

Translational Researchers must

interact with Industry

• Can entrepreneurship be a component of Translational Research?– In a seminar by Dr. Mary Maxon, deputy to the Vice Chair of the ICOC

in the CIRM (California Institute of Regenerative Medicine), she stated that the path of the Stem Cell Initiative is as follows:

• Lay the Foundation (Bench) Prepare for Clinic Clinical Research (Bedside)

– Preparing for the Clinic will probably involve industry (licensing of technology developed by academia or the creation of a start-up company by the researcher)

• Exposure to the Business Community as well as the Graduate School of Management would provide new networks as well as cross-fertilization of ideas.

• The knowledge of Intellectual Property (IP) protection, patent law, conflict of interest issues and cooperative research and development agreements (CRADA) and other funding mechanisms are critical elements to the translational research efforts.

Some UCD Bioscience spin-offs….

• Calgene (now owned by Monsanto) (Ray Valentine’s lab)

– Flavr Savr Tomato (delayed ripening)… currently not on market

– Currents projects include soy and canola with Omega-3 Fatty acids (heart health oils)

• Arete Therapeutics (Bruce Hammock lab)

– Soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH) inhibitors show anti-inflammatory as well as anti-hypertension activity.

• Lipomics Technologies (Bruce German lab); recently merged with Tethys Bioscience

– Metabolic profiling of lipids in blood (more than just cholesterol and triglycerides)

– New field of Metabolomics which is part of personalized medicine

• Ventria Biosciences (Ray Rodriguez’s lab)

– Use of biotech rice to produce human antibacterial proteins: lactoferrin and lysozyme for treating infant diarrhea

• Pediatric Biosciences (M.I.N.D. Institute Research, Judy van der Water’s lab)

– One in 110 newborns will be diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

– Developing a Pre-natal auto-immune diagnostic for risk of delivering an autistic child. Create an Infancy diagnostic for autism allowing for earlier diagnosis than behavior-based strategies

• Glycometrix (Carlito Lebrilla lab)

– Developing glycomics-based biomarkers and diagnostics for early detection of ovarian cancer, prostate cancer and others.

– Glycosylation (sugars) pattern is altered in diseased cells.

Biotechnology is Concentrated in Northeast and California

California is home to one third of the

nation’s biotechnology firms. The state

has more biotech jobs than all of the

other states combined.

Over 100,000 workers in over 400

companies

ref: Under the Microscope: Biotechnology Jobs in

California. EDD Labor Market report June 2004

(updated Dec 2007)

http://www.calmis.ca.gov/FILE/OCCMISC/Biotech-Part1.pdf

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The Bay Area is still the

Epicenter for biotech companies.

Northern California Life

Sciences Cluster:

• Birthplace of Biotechnology—Genentech

founded in 1976

• 9 Counties, 101 Cities, 7,000 Square

Miles of Land

• 1,377 Life Science Companies

• 250,000 Direct and Indirect Employees

• 100,000 Employed in Life Sciences

Directly

• $6B Wages Paid

• 560 Marketed Products

• 463 Products in Phase II and Phase III

Clinical Trials

• 95 Publicly Traded Companies

• $144 Billion Market Cap

• $2.2 Billion NIH Grants Awarded to

Northern California Organizations

• $860 million invested by Venture Capital

firms in Northern California life sciences in

52 Deals

http://www.baybio.org/

This map is a little

outdated…there were some

mergers & acquisition as well as

some new companies launched

Biomedical Industry is Recession Proof

• California Biomedical Industry 2010 Report, released by CHI* and PricewaterhouseCoopers on Feb 2, 2010.

– According to the report, the biomedical industry is one of the most recession-resilient sectors in California's hard-hit economy and a critical driver of innovation, job growth and revenues that will help lead the state to economic recovery. California's biomedical industry directly employs 274,000 people, representing one in six of the 1.6 million biomedical jobs in the United States.

– Article on UC Davis Biotechnology Programs (pg 93)* CHI-California Healthcare Institute, a non-profit public policy research organization

A full copy of the 2010 California Biomedical Industry Report is available at www.chi.org or at www.pwc.com/pharma/2010chireport

Microarrays can help in Medicine

Advances in sequencing and genome

analysis and in the associated

information technology will

accelerate the discovery and

characterization of genes having

potential utility for personalized

therapeutics, especially in the

treatment of cancer.

Microarrays (DNA chips) representing thousands

of individual genes allow very high throughput

analysis of genes and gene expression patterns.

Application to diagnostic medicine will

revolutionize medicine. Ex: Virochip & SARS

virus Identification (De Risi Lab, UCSF)

Systems Biology is a Foundation

Discipline to Bridge the Gap• Ruedi Aebersold and Leroy Hood are key

researchers at Institute of Systems Biology (http://www.systemsbiology.org)

• Goals:

– To turn molecular biology into an exact science, with systematic and quantitative measurements.

– To model a living cell ―in silico‖ with predictive computer simulations.

• Move to Discovery Science from hypothesis-driven science as the initial step.

• Genome Technology, April 2010: Systems Biology Fights Cancer

– Researchers have found new subtypes of glioblastoma, provided a link between epidemiological evidence and genetic risk and more.

– Used a variety of tools: gene expression analysis and sequencing, bioinformatics and metabolomic imaging.

Use the Tools of Genomics and Bioinformatics to study the complex interactions of genes, proteins and

nutrients at the cellular level

Descriptive biology

Computational biology

More ….. Systems Biology fights CancerGT, April 2010

• Gene Expression: TCGA Identifies Subtypes of GMB– ―The prognosis for glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), the most common malignant brain

cancer in adults, is rarely promising. Treatment is usually comprised of palliative

therapies; in most cases, by the time patients are diagnosed, they have only a few

months to live.

– But a research team from the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) may have made a dent in

this deadly cancer with recent findings that indicate GBM is not actually a single disease,

but rather four distinct molecular subtypes. Each subtype responds differently to

aggressive chemotherapy and radiation, as demonstrated by the fact that patients

with one subtype succumb at a rate roughly 50 percent slower than patients treated with

less aggressive therapy.‖

– "This study starts by following up on observations [made by] a number of investigators,

that gene expression arrays suggest that there are subtypes of glioblastoma," says David

Neil Hayes, an assistant professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

– "What we've done for the first time is shown convincingly not just that there are

subtypes, but that the subtypes relate to underlying genomic alterations.―

– Hayes and his colleagues were able to conduct this study because of previously

unavailable access to a large and high-quality data set that included not just gene

expression arrays, but also copy number data and mutational status on a relevant

set of genes, as well as clinical data.

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More ….. Systems Biology fights CancerGT, April 2010

• Genotyping: High-Throughput Oncogene Mutation Profiling

With OncoMap:

– OncoMap is a mass spectrometry-based genotyping platform for detecting

somatic mutations in cancer. Platform is based on alterations to a Sequenom

technology designed for germline genotyping, in early 2006.

• Bioinformatics: Tools to Uncover Biomarkers for Renal Cancer

Subtypes:

– “As a general rule, being able to take smaller and smaller tumor biopsies

has been a boon as it is less invasive for the patient. With those smaller

samples, though, there is less tissue left over. "As we move toward less invasive

diagnostics, clinical laboratories have less to work with," says Andrew Young, a

pathologist at Emory University School of Medicine. But, he adds, "with

microarrays, we can sample any number of potential biomarkers.“

– Young teamed up with Georgia Tech's May Wang to apply her bioinformatics

tools to his kidney cancer studies. Together, they used three tools developed by

Wang's team to find biomarkers to distinguish the three subtypes of renal cell

carcinoma: clear cell, papillary, and chromophobe.

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More ….. Systems Biology fights CancerGT, April 2010

• Sequencing: UCLA Team Completes Brain Cancer Cell Line

Sequence

– ―In an effort to lead the way forward for personalized cancer treatment,

researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles' Jonsson

Comprehensive Cancer Center recently performed the first complete

sequence of a brain cancer cell line. The team, led by Stan Nelson, a

professor of human genetics and director of the center's Gene Expression

Shared Resource, focused on the U87 glioblastoma cell line, one of the most

thoroughly studied brain cancer cell lines. Nelson's group identified many

chromosomal translocations, deletions, and mutations that could result in

the development of cancer.

– Taking advantage of ABI SOLID technology, they were able to

simultaneously read billions of different DNA fragments from this cancer

and analyze it more than a billion times to make sure that the results would be

sensitive and accurate.‖

– They hope that their study might help pave the way for new methods, such

as a sensitive molecular assay, to facilitate earlier diagnosis and treatment

for brain cancer by keeping tabs on recurrence.

33

Synthetic Biology is an Emerging Field

• www.synberc.org The Synthetic Biology Engineering Research Center

(SynBERC) is a multi-institution research* effort to lay the foundation for the

emerging field of synthetic biology. Video: http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-

report-videos/221178/march-10-2009/jay-keasling

– SynBERC’s vision is to catalyze biology as an engineering discipline

by developing the foundational understanding and technologies to allow

researchers to design and build standardized, integrated biological

systems to accomplish many particular tasks. In essence, we are making

biology easier to engineer.

– Just as technicians now assemble electronic devices from commercial,

off-the-shelf parts, SynBERC foresees a day when synthetic biologists will

design biological systems from scratch and assemble them using well-

characterized biological parts, devices, and chasses. SynBERC brings

together biologists, engineers, and human scientists from world-

class institutions to produce the tools, techniques, and scientific

understanding needed to design and construct a broad range of

biological tools for health, energy, environment and, ultimately,

human welfare.*SynBERC is funded by the National Science Foundation's Engineering Research Center Program, and our partner

institutions include UC Berkeley (lead), UC San Francisco, Harvard, MIT, Stanford, and Prairie View A&M University.34

Synthetic Biology is an Emerging Field

• www.biobricks.org

– The BioBrick Foundation was founded by engineers and scientists at MIT,

Harvard and UCSF. BioBrick parts are use in the International Genetically

Engineered Machine (iGEM) competition

• www.biofab.org

– What is the BioFAB? A public-benefit facility producing the parts, tools

& standards powering biotechnology.

• NSF Funds First Ever Bio Design Facility to develop Standardized

Components (GT March 2010, pg 10)– Directed by Adam Arkin (UC Berkeley) and Drew Endy (Stanford)

– Goal: to build the ultimate Synthetic Erector Set to characterize thousands of

control elements essential for bioengineered microbes

• Amyris Technologies (spin out from Keasling lab at UC Berkeley) in

Emeryville applies synthetic biology and metabolic engineering in creating

anti-malarial drugs, biofuels and other products.

– “Off-the-shelf genetic parts cut our project development times and overall

costs by half.” Jack Newman, Founder & Senior VP Research, Amyris Biotechnologies

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Personalized Health

• The Biotech Program hosted an MCB 294 seminar on February 6,

2009: Genetics Gets Personal: How to Read Your Genome and

What It Means for Your Health by Brian Naughton, PhD,

Founding R&D Architect of 23 and Me, Inc., Mountain View, CA

go to our website for the Presentation

– Analyze SNP (single nucleotide polymorphism) pattern and incidence of certain

phenotypes or diseases.

• He spoke again on June 3rd at Genome Center Auditorium. Topic:

Consumers, Genomes, and Research

• Check out the website: https://www.23andme.com/

• Lots of controversy recently as to the accuracy and predictive

value of these types of tests…… These assays are in our

infancy, but this testing isn’t going away

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Plant Made Vaccines

• Manufacturing of Vaccines in Tobacco

– Prof. Charles J. Arntzen

charles.arntzen@asu.edu

– Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University, Kentucky Bioprocessing, Vaxx, Inc. and others

– Plant Made Pharmaceuticals are

coming of age in the 21st Century

2010: Plant-made Pharmaceuticals are coming of age….

• In 1991 FDA approved Genzyme’s Ceredase from human placental tissue to treat Gaucher’s Disease. Then recombinant Cerezyme, which cost $200,000 annually for the average patient.

• 2009 – Protalix completed Phase 3 studies on a carrot-cell produced glucoceribrosidase. Note: first “biobetter” product.

• Dec. 1, 2009 – Pfizer acquired marketing rights for marketing for Gaucher’s Disease.

• FDA requested a 2010 start of the drug to US patients under expanded access.

Conclusion – FDA is comfortable with plant

pharmaceuticals.New drugs may be less

expensive and be “Biobetters”

Federal Investment: Flu Vaccines

DARPA is investing in plant made flu

vaccine technology to

overcome “speed to product”,

reduced capital cost up-front, and

scalable production needs.

($4/dose)

Wall Street Journal

Current State of the Art in Plant Pharma…Host plant engineering for “humanized glycosylation”

Fuc

SialicAcid

Plant Human

Gal

Xyl

Remove Xyl&Fuc

Add Gal Multi-antennary

Add Sialic Acid

Six mammalian proteins give entire human sialylation (add Neu5Ac to terminal galactose)

The first plant-made vaccine will likely be from Bayer

www.research.bayer.com

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http://www.deb.ucdavis.edu/

Designated Emphasis in BiotechnologyUniversity of California, Davis established 1997

An inter-graduate program that credits PhD students for training in biotechnology

ex: “Doctoral Degree in Microbiology with a Designated Emphasis in Biotechnology”

Mission:

• To coordinate and provide cross-disciplinary training in critical areas of

biomolecular research

• Promote interdisciplinary research environments that integrate basic

biological science with engineering and computational disciplines

• To provide cross-disciplinary training/trainee experience in a

biotechnology company or cross-college laboratory

The DEB is the Formal Training Program for the NIH Training Grant in

Biomolecular Technology as well as the NSF CREATE-IGERT Training

Grant.

28 Graduate Programs

~100 Faculty Trainers

Over 180 Students

2005-06 Biotech

Fellows

Dr. Judy Kjelstrom is the Program Coordinator

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Best Practices in Biotechnology Education

(Dr. Yali Friedman, editor) March 2008

22 International Best Practices in K-12, College,

Certificate, Master's, Doctoral, MBA, Distance

Education Programs and Student Groups.

Contents includes a chapter on:

The UCD Biotechnology Program by Judith A.

Kjelstrom and Denneal Jamison-McClung

(The DEB graduate program is the only PhD

level program described in the book)

“Best Practices in Biotechnology Education is directed at

faculty seeking to start or expand biotechnology education

programs; policy-makers and economic developers seeking to

help meet workforce needs; and, students, scientists, and

business professionals looking to enter the industry or upgrade

their existing skills.‖

http://www.logos-press.com/books/biotechnology_education.php

44

Nature Reviews Showcases….

UC Davis Biotechnology Program

Careers and Recruitment

• Nature Reviews Drug Discovery 7, 271 (March 2008) |doi:10.1038/nrd2542

• http://www.nature.com/nrd/journal/v7/n3/full/nrd2542.html

• Biotech education

Key skills and business knowledge that are important for success in biotechnology are often acquired on the job rather than taught, but programmes that provide formal training in the field are becoming increasingly popular worldwide. This month, we feature two leaders of such programmes.– Christopher R. Lowe, Ph.D. Director, Institute of Biotechnology, University

of Cambridge, UK.

– Judith A. Kjelstrom, Ph.D. Director, UC Davis Biotechnology Program, University of California, Davis, California, USA.

45 45

Networking with Industry is Fun!

Having Fun at the Biotech Training

Retreat in Napa.

Many industry scientists were

present and interacted with the

students

Sitting on the Famous Red Couch with Steve Watkins,

President & CEO of Lipomics Technologies

UCD Bus Trip to Genentech in South SF

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NSF CREATE-IGERT Training Program

This multi-institutional IGERT (directed by Prof. Karen McDonald) establishes a research and educational partnership between UC Davis, Tuskegee University, University of Ireland, Maynooth and the Teagasc Oak Park Research Center in Carlow, Ireland.

• To address these major societal problems, the CREATE- IGERT graduate training program will focus on the development and use of transgenic plants, crops and/or in vitro plant based systems for the production of non-food products and for bioremediation within three application thrust areas:

1) Rapid Vaccine Production and Cost Effective Therapeutics (Plant-made Products)

2) Biofuels and Biorefineries

3) Environmental Sustainability

• As with any emerging technology, there are a variety of scientific, technical, regulatory, environmental, economic, societal, and legal questions that must be addressed through research, analysis, communication, debate, and discussion.

http://create-

igert.ucdavis.edu

UC Davis

Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Med into Grad Training Program

RESEARCH PARTNERSHIPS

TO IM PROVE HUM AN HEALTH

M EDICAL

PRINCIPLESBASIC

SCIENCEUC DAVIS

HHM I

48

The HHMI-IMBS Training Program in Translational

Research is a Great Team Building Effort

• It is a key component of UC Davis Heath System’s institutional strategy to create a groundbreaking translational research program that embraces cross-disciplinary teamwork.

• Our ultimate Goal is to Bring Ideas at the Bench to the Bedside

• May earn a DETR-Designated Emphasis in Translational Research

These PhD students network with Deans,

MD and Clinicial Researchers

www.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu/imbs/

Biotechnology is a Hot Area

• We have the potential to revolutionize healthcare– Stem Cell Therapies

– Tissue Engineering

– Gene Therapy

– Biomarker Detection in Diagnostics

– Synthetic Biology/Metabolic Engineering in creating new therapeutics

– Personalized Medicine and Nutrition

– Nanotechnology/Nanotherapeutics

– Immunotherapeutics

– Vaccines and Pharmaceutics produced in plantsWe need Bright Students to Help!

50

Thank You…

• For more information, contact Dr. Judy Kjelstrom or Dr. Denneal Jamison McClung, associate director at:jakjelstrom@ucdavis.edu or

dsjamison@ucdavis.edu

telephone:

530-752-3260

websites:

www.biotech.ucdavis.edu

www.deb.ucdavis.edu

www.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu/imbs/

www.create-igert.ucdavis.edu

http://biotechsystem.ucdavis.edu/