A New NSF Grant for Montgomery County Community College

I got a chance to read about the exciting new NSF grant Dr. Bryans was awarded at Montgomery County Community College.

Dr. Margaret Bryans wrote the NSF grant that awarded $573,347 to Montgomery County Community College to support MCCC's efforts to build Southeastern Pennsylvania's advanced technical workforce for the cell and gene therapy industry. The NSF grant will help the College accomplish three goals: to develop new curriculum for an associate's degree program and a new certificate in advanced therapies; facilitate other regional colleges and institutions to develop and offer their own cell and gene therapy courses and programs; and begin to engage high school students to consider a career in the field of cell and gene therapy through summer programming at MCCC.

MCCC currently offers two Biotechnology programs of study, a two year Associate in Applied Science degree in Biotechnology and a one year Certificate in Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing designed for degree-holding students who wish to acquire the lab skills and knowledge needed to enter the biotechnology workforce. Gene and cell therapies modify a patient's cells or genes to help combat a disease. Pharmaceutical companies have a pressing need for more employees trained in biotechnology skills.

Dr. Bryans is the grant's principal investigator while her colleague Dr. James Bretz is the co-principal investigator.

Congratulations Dr. Bryans and MCCC!

For more information please read the Montco.Today publication