ATE Project Talks: The NOBLE Project and Growing the Immunotherapy Workforce

Welcome to the 2025 InnovATEBIO series of virtual ATE project talks.  This series features leaders in biotechnology workforce education from across the US sharing their work on exciting projects funded by the National Science Foundation's Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program.  The ATE program supports the education of technicians for the high-technology fields that drive our nation's economy.

Each talk will be 20 minutes, followed by 15 minutes for questions and discussion.

View the whole series of Spring 2025 ATE project talks.
 

Talk 1:  The NOBLE project: Cultivating Tomorrow's Biotechnology Professionals

Description: This talk will describe the NOVA Biotechnology Leadership in Education (NOBLE) Project, aimed at recruiting, retaining, training, and placing a diverse population of students from the Northern Virginia area to work in the biotechnology industry. This project emphasizes a combination of technical skills and professional skills training.

Speakers:  David Fernandez, PhD (PI) Northern Virginia Community College, Manassas, VA

Additional speakers:  Xin Zhou, PhD, NOVA Biotechnology Program Head; Vijaya Gandreti, Associate Professor of Biology and Biotechnology

About the speakers:  

• PI Dr. David Fernandez is a Professor of Biology at Northern Virginia Community College. He received a PhD in Cell Biology and an MS in Tumor Biology. He teaches Cell Biology and Anatomy and Physiology.
• Co-PI Dr. Xin Zhou has been the NOVA Biotechnology Program Head since 2017 and is also a Professor of Biology at Northern Virginia Community College. He received a PhD is in Biology. He teaches Biotechnology courses, Cell Biology, and General Biology.
• Professor Gandreti teaches biotechnology courses within the program and serves as senior personnel for this project.

• ATE Project: NOVA Biotechnology Leadership in Education (NOBLE) Project

Talk 2:  Biomanufacturing training programs and growing the immunotherapy workforce

Description: Our project (“Establishing a Hub to Support Education of Biomanufacturing Technicians in Cell Therapy and Immunotherapy”) has been hosted at Shoreline for the last 5 years. The project has passed through multiple hands during its lifetime and adapted to changing opportunities. The three main arms of the project have been 1) developing labor market reports, 2) expansion of program offerings at the college and 3) developing new recruitment pathways to increase access to immunotherapy careers via laboratory technician positions.

Speakers:  Orlando de Lange (PI), Acting Dean of Career and Technical Education, Shoreline Community College, Shoreline, WA

About the speakers:  

• PI Dr. de Lange has been a Biotechnology instructor at Shoreline Community College (just north of Seattle) since 2022, and this year is serving as dean of the Career Technical Education division. Before that he worked for over a decade in academic research within the fields of plant pathology, synthetic biology, and design of automated laboratory systems.
• ATE Project: Establishing a Hub to Support Education of Biomanufacturing Technicians in Cell Therapy and Immunotherapy