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CSU Program for Education and Research in Biotechnology

About this group

CSU Program for Education and Research in Biotechnology
http://www.calstate.edu/csuperb/

Program Mission

CSUPERB’s mission is to develop a professional biotechnology workforce by mobilizing and supporting collaborative CSU student and faculty research, innovating educational practices, responding to and anticipating the needs of the life science industry.

What We Believe

CSUPERB recognizes that modern biotechnology preparation requires the integration of coursework, hands-on practice and participation in multi-disciplinary, team-based research projects. CSUPERB believes that the best way to engage, recruit and retain students in life science industry careers is to provide access to and opportunities in real world biotechnology research settings. We know that these experiences are particularly effective at engaging and retaining students who are the first in their families to attend college or are from communities underrepresented in the life sciences. By working with CSU faculty in the classroom and on basic and applied research problems, students build a solid foundation for successful life science industry careers. CSUPERB knows that the CSU plays a critical role in California’s biotechnology industry success by providing not only a professional, entrepreneurial workforce but also the innovative ideas that drive the growth and evolution of the industry. CSUPERB can best serve the evolving life sciences industry by reaching out and partnering with external advisors to stay informed of and responsive to its needs.

Areas of interest

biotechnology

News & announcements

New Report on Retention of Women in Academic Science

By Susan M. Baxter on 2009-11-17 12:31:01
This report from the Center on American Progress, using survey data partially from University of California students, is already kicking up dust in the blogosphere.

http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2009/11/women_and_sciences.html

New worldVIEW from Scientific American

By Susan M. Baxter on 2009-11-16 16:27:24
I got a free copy in the mail today - an entire special issue dedicated to biotechnology and innovation.

Get your electronic copy at:
http://www.saworldview.com/

There will be another issued at BIO in May 2010.

Big Pharma Employment Analysis from Derek Lowe

By Susan M. Baxter on 2009-11-12 10:20:25
For those of you trying to keep up with developments in Big Pharma - Derek Lowe writes a fascinating blog called "In the Pipeline." He's also getting writing gigs at more conventional media outlets, including this new article from The Atlantic reviewing how massive layoffs are affecting Big Pharma employees.
http://business.theatlantic.com/2009/11/swinging_the_ax_at_the_drug_companies.php

NIH funding two "FRESCA-like" networking systems

By Susan M. Baxter on 2009-11-03 08:44:41
For those of you using FRESCA infrequently - you'll be 'ready' for the next wave of networking sponsored by the NIH. Hopefully there will be a way to link all of our social networks in the third wave!
source: NIH
http://www.ncrr.nih.gov/the_american_recovery_and_reinvestment_act/20091102.asp

Got the link on the previous announcement wrong

By Susan M. Baxter on 2009-11-02 14:00:56
Here is the thread on whether graduate education is 'worth it':

http://www.heldrich.rutgers.edu/uploadedFiles/Publications/STEM_Paper_Final.pdf

http://pipeline.corante.com/archives/2009/10/29/the_best_ones_arent_over_here_any_more.php

http://harvardmagazine.com/2009/11/professionalization-in-academy

http://www.scientificblogging.com/adaptive_complexity/escaping_black_hole_phd_program

Debate about relative value of PhD, MS, PSM on the blogosphere

By Susan M. Baxter on 2009-11-02 11:34:54
PSMs are being analyzed in the blogosphere!

From Genome Web's Daily Scan:
http://www.scientificblogging.com/adaptive_complexity/escaping_black_hole_phd_programv=e3b2a28004

NIFA Analysis from The Scientist

By Susan M. Baxter on 2009-10-28 11:05:56
See the link here for a good article about the establishment of NIFA - the new National Institute of Food & Agriculture, funded by Congress in 2008, and launched in early October:
http://www.the-scientist.com/blog/display/56111/

Don't count the Chemists out!

By Susan M. Baxter on 2009-10-26 09:10:38
3 small molecules can transform adult stem cells into induced pluripotent stem cells.....

http://www.burrillreport.com/article-1842.html

NY Times Interview with Francis Collins

By Susan M. Baxter on 2009-10-06 09:02:53
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/06/health/06nih.html?pagewanted=1&8dpc&_r=1

Stimulus Package for Medical Research

By Susan M. Baxter on 2009-10-01 09:14:29
Obama made an announcement yesterday at NIH that some of the stimulus package funds would be used to fund new medical research, including $1B for genomic research. Good thing the FCG and SPC decided to start a taskforce for genomic research this summer! Stay tuned.

See: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090930/hl_nm/us_usa_healthcare_obama
and
http://blogs.nature.com/news/thegreatbeyond/2009/09/post_47.html

Keeping email lists up to date

By Susan M. Baxter on 2009-09-28 08:43:28
During the fall, there are always changes on campus. If you've had a department chair change - let Pam in the CSUPERB office know so that we can keep our email lists up to date! Thanks, FCG!

Peer Review Revisited

By Susan M. Baxter on 2009-09-15 09:44:20
We're always trying to keep up with 'best practices' in proposal review. These series of articles are focused on peer review of journal articles and provide some interesting opinions and statistics.

http://www.genomeweb.com//node/923686?emc=el&m=490424&l=2&v=e3b2a28004

Medical Device Development - case study

By Susan M. Baxter on 2009-09-01 14:13:55
James Schmitt recommends last week's 60 Minutes segment about medical device development and its impact on public health. It features the respirator inventor, Forrest Bird. The story starts at about 27min, 17 sec. into the show (weblink below).

http://www.cbs.com/primetime/60_minutes/video/video.php?cid=60%20Minutes/60%20Minutes%20Full%20Episodes&pid=SbbEMEmNKcY7CWz9i1e91MNvKXyLKStc&play=true

Moving Molecular Tools into the Clinic

By Susan M. Baxter on 2009-08-26 11:25:36
As we all know, molecular tools and biotechnologies are moving into the clinic as genetics and immunology based point-of-care devices make it through the regulatory approval process and on to the market. We are also working statewide with workforce investment boards, state agencies and industry partners to increase the numbers of licensed clinical laboratory scientists to work in the discovery and development of molecular diagnostics.

I found an interesting blog that tries to straddle this interface:
http://www.genomeweb.com/newsletter/sample

Personal Genetics Session at Symposium

By Susan M. Baxter on 2009-08-25 09:58:40
The other 'hot topic' we'll try to address at this year's CSU Biotech Symposium is the role and reality of personal genetics in healthcare. This is the follow up to last year's 'Diabetes in the Community' session. Panelists will include a researcher from Pfizer who has developed a drug that works for a specific population of cancer patients, a researcher who is developing point of care molecular diagnostics devices, a clinician who is starting to use genetics information in his oncology practice, and a representative from 23andMe who can talk about 'personalized genetics.'

NOVA just released a special about that last wrinkle:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sciencenow/0302/01.html

Stem Cell Session at Symposium

By Susan M. Baxter on 2009-08-25 09:29:21
We're working on arraying a terrific set of speakers for a stem cell research and development session at the January CSU Biotech Symposium. To my great delight, Jane Lebkowski from Geron Corporation has agreed to speak. She'll have real-world insights in what it takes to develop stem cell technologies for the market and the regulatory hurdles that this biotechnology faces.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/19/health/research/19drug.html?_r=1

Cloud Computing Overview

By Susan M. Baxter on 2009-08-25 08:49:03
Some FCG members have asked me about 'cloud computing' - a web-based solution for computing needs. The promise of cloud computing is that you won't have to buy and maintain hardware (and in some cases, software), instead you can get 'up and running' on large compute farms, maintained by professional IT organizations. Most services are offering 'on demand' pricing.

See the Fierce Biotech IT newsletter article: http://www.fiercebiotechit.com/special-reports/fierce-cloud-services-biopharma-r-d?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal

Personalized Health/Health 2.0

By Susan M. Baxter on 2009-08-13 11:03:47
I've been working on some statewide HealthIT initiatives lately, but also working to organize a session at the symposium around personalized medicine. Saw this blog from the New York Times today to help 'set the scene' for January. By the way, 23andMe has confirmed they'll send a speaker for that personalized medicine session.

http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/12/genetics-entrepreneur-anne-wojcicki-answers-your-questions/

Proposal Writing Tips

By Susan M. Baxter on 2009-08-12 10:44:09
One of the decisions at last week's FCG and SPC meetings was that we're going to delay the timing of the Faculty-Student Seed Grant deadline and move up the timing of the Spring grants deadline. Seed, JV and Programmatic grant proposals will be due February 8th, 2010, this academic year. RFPs will be issued later this month.

In that spirit - here's a blog and subsequent comments debating the eternal question, "how do you write a research grant proposal?"
http://scienceblogs.com/sciencewoman/2009/08/sciencewomans_guide_to_writing.php

FCG and SPC meetings Aug. 3 and 4

By Susan M. Baxter on 2009-07-29 13:24:20
We'll all meet in Long Beach next week for the summer FCG and SPC meetings (Monday and Tuesday, August 3 and 4).

Inspired by the COAST meeting earlier in the year, this summer’s CSUPERB FCG agenda (Dumke Auditorium, attached) is policy & program business heavy with ten items to discuss. The afternoon will feature three government relations experts giving tips on talking to/with Sacramento legislators for the biotechnology faculty in attendance. The panelists (Wess Larson, Owen Holmes from Fullerton, and Ritchard Englehardt from California Healthcare Institute) are all Sacramento insiders and have quite the schtick together; I think they’ll be thought-provoking and informative at the same time!

Also - take time to vote for the 09/10 SPC; the link to the voting poll has been sent in a series of emails. Voting closes Friday, July 31.

Eric Topol's Comments on Personalized Medicine

By Susan M. Baxter on 2009-07-15 09:06:50
From the California Healthcare Institute (CHI) blog:

http://californiahealthcareinstitute.blogspot.com/2009/06/executive-spotlight-dr-eric-topol.html

Another Top Ten List for Web Surfing Molecular Biologists

By Susan M. Baxter on 2009-07-07 12:54:55
Another, hopefully useful, top ten list picked by GenomeWeb's Daily Scan. This one is a list of useful Firefox (open source) add-ons for scientists.

http://bitesizebio.com/2009/07/06/firefox-add-ons-for-scientists/

Top 10 Technologies to Watch

By Susan M. Baxter on 2009-07-06 13:50:09
Here is the Burrill Reports' Top Ten List of Bio-Technologies to watch:

http://www.tjols.com/article-1404.html

Project Management

By Susan M. Baxter on 2009-07-02 10:14:27
As most of you know, we received Small Business Administration funding to develop Biotechnology Project Management certificates in the Los Angeles region. But, many of you have mentioned to me that faculty and graduate students need project management training too!

I saw a link to this blog in GenomeWeb this morning - and thought it was a decent and accessible (yet non-professional grade) introduction to the reasons why academic scientists might benefit from project management discipline. The link is: http://bitesizebio.com/2009/07/02/10-things-you-must-do-before-starting-a-new-project/

When you're ready for a book on the subject, I recommend the O'Reilly title, The Art of Project Management. It's based mostly in the software world, but written in a breezy, generalist style.

Jobs available in biotechnology now

By Susan M. Baxter on 2009-06-30 11:34:13
As I travel the state, I keep running into companies that are hiring even in this economic downturn.

Today I got an email from Vertex (http://www.vrtxjobs.com/?src=fp) listing job openings they have. In lieu of a detailed workforce needs assessment, the list is instructive and adds to my anecdotal evidence (each company says essentially the same thing). Note that companies list "information systems" rather than bio/medical informatics:
Information Systems
Marketing
Clinical Development
Pharmacokinetics
Chemical Development
Analytical Development
Regulatory Affairs
Pharmacovigilance/
Drug Safety

Fierce 15 Biotech Companies Named

By Susan M. Baxter on 2009-06-29 12:51:09
Each year the organization that publishes FierceBiotech (and other noteworthy daily email digests) names the most up and coming Biotech companies. The list is interesting for several reasons - what is up-and-coming applied research, what are VC's funding and where are these companies located. It's also terrifically interesting to see what happens to these "fierce" companies as they battle the markets and competition to become sustainable businesses. See: http://www.fiercebiotech.com/special-reports/fiercebiotechs-2009-fierce-15

Saturday Web Surfing Find

By Susan M. Baxter on 2009-06-20 12:20:13
http://www.zangani.com/node/3346

Twenty Web sites and services that every scientist/engineer "ought to know" according to blogger Mary Shapiro (Baltimore Science News Examiner). Features statistics help from CSU Fullerton (Daniel Soper).

Biochem & Mol Biology Article from AAC&U

By Susan M. Baxter on 2009-06-19 08:55:10
http://www.aacu.org/liberaleducation/le-sp09/le-sp09_biochemistry.cfm?utm_source=pubs&utm_medium=blast&utm_campaign=LEspring09

Interesting reading.

Summer FCG Meeting: Aug 3

By Susan M. Baxter on 2009-06-12 09:40:48
Remember to save the date: August 3 for the Faculty Consensus Group (FCG) meeting at the Chancellor's Office in Long Beach!

The afternoon session will feature some experts in government relations to help us become better advocates for biotechnology education and research in Sacramento! We also will have a full slate of business items to address in the morning.

Applied vs. Pure Research Opinion

By Susan M. Baxter on 2009-02-18 08:41:46
Interesting blog post (and comments debate) from New York Times (2/17/09):
http://judson.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/17/the-absurdly-artificial-divide-between-pure-and-applied-research/?th&emc=th

Symposium Next Week! Jan 16-17

By Susan M. Baxter on 2009-01-07 15:30:20
Just a quick symposium update:
CSU Chancellor Reed and Congressman Adam Schiff (2009 CSUPERB Legislator of the Year) will be able to attend the Saturday evening Awards Banquet. We'll also have at least three other CSU Presidents attending parts or all of the symposium.

The room in which we're holding the poster sessions is really too small for the task - it will be crowded with the 180 posters accepted this year! Please set your students' expectations and make sure to brave the crowds to see the student presentations.

There are over 460 students, faculty and administrators from 21 CSU universities registered for the Symposium. Over 80 industry representatives will be at the symposium as speakers, panelists, workshop partipants and Career Networking Session mentors.

FCG members - remember the FCG Meeting is on Sunday, Jan. 18th following the symposium. Bob Koch will be sending out the agenda shortly.

Faculty Mentors: Approve Student Poster Submissions!

By Susan M. Baxter on 2008-11-17 11:07:38
We had a few glitches in the software system last Friday as everyone tried to access the system to approve posters. Please try again if you were unable to login last week. We're trying to finalize the selection of the 180 posters for the symposium this week. - Susan

21st Annual CSU Biotechnology Symposium

By Susan M. Baxter on 2008-11-06 14:53:35
The deadline for student research and teaching awards nominations was 11/4/08. Surprisingly we received very few Nagel and Eden nominations this year! Please see http://www.calstate.edu/csuperb/awards/ for information on these awards. Consider nominating your excellent students.

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