Genentech Foundation for Biomedical Sciences Bolsters Innovation in Health Science Education with $1.2 Million for Bay Area Programs

The Genentech Foundation for Biomedical Sciences announced today that its Board of Directors has awarded 26 grants totaling $1,181,757 for science programs at educational and community-based organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area. This year?s class of grantees reaches hundreds of students in a wide range of innovative approaches to challenge youth in the expansive world of biotechnology. The grants awarded represent an 11 percent increase in funding as compared to the Foundation?s 2004 grants. "For nearly two decades the Genentech Foundation for Biomedical Sciences has invested millions of dollars into educational programs that spark discovery and imagination in our future health science leaders," said Herbert Boyer, Ph.D., chairman of the Foundation and Genentech co-founder. "We have new programs this year, as well as tried and true science education programs that continue to demonstrate a passion to expand the scientific knowledge of Bay Area students, most with an eye on increasing student?s long-term commitment to biomedical sciences." FACES for the Future: Health Professions Internship at Children?s Hospital & Research Center at Oakland, awarded a grant of $60,000 from the Foundation, is an example of real innovation. The program is a highly successful, unique approach to providing disadvantaged, minority youth with opportunities in science. FACES offers participants a three-year educational "pipeline" with career exploration, training, academic support, mentoring, psychosocial intervention and assistance and community outreach in order to better diversify the health care and biomedical workforce. "We give youth a chance to succeed. We support and prepare disadvantaged and underrepresented minority youth for the demands of college and future careers in health care of biomedical fields," remarked Dr. Barbara Staggers, co-director, FACES for the Future, Director of Adolescent Medicine. Of the initial 28 matriculating students of the FACES class of 2004, 22 students graduated from the program. One hundred percent of those 22 graduated from high school in May, 2004, all enrolled in college last fall, and all intend to pursue a career in the health professions. FACES partners with Northern California, Bay Area schools including: Life Academy, Oakland Technical High School, Skyline High School, Berkeley High School, Met West High School, Emiliano Zapata Street Academy, and McClymonds High School. Founded in 1988, Genentech funds the Genentech Foundation for Biomedical Sciences by providing payments and royalties from license agreements under the Riggs-Itakura family of patents.

Science education-a Bay area perspective Contributed by: Melissa Woodrow, Ph.D. Member, San Francisco chapter Association for Women in Science, and Bio-Rad Laboratories Biotechnology Explorer Program Ours is a technology-driven world. New computer chip designs facilitate more compact and complex hand-held technologies, biotech advances give us new and powerful treatments for disease, while engineering advances provide a closer look at an ever-expanding universe. In this complex world, education and training are essential to enable society to thrive economically and socially. Investment in new technologies fueled a boom in the US economy in the early 90’s. Bust followed boom, and many tech jobs migrated overseas attracted by the lure of a substantially less expensive work force. This was possible because capable, highly trained staff were available in countries where science education is a matter of course, and has a long tradition. If the US is to remain at the forefront of technology development and implementation, it must invest in the people who will create and use it. All sectors of the community at large - academia, industry, and government – have an underlying need for individuals competent in a variety of highly technical skills. In 2002, the US Department of Commerce suggested that some 60% of jobs require technology skills, with that number projected to increase to 90% over the next several decades. A 2001 US Department of Labor publication describes the emerging economy as "powered by technology, fueled by information, and driven by knowledge." According to this study, not all new jobs will demand a college education. Still, the need for new skills will continue to grow as technology finds new ways of performing common tasks (1,2). California faces a unique set of challenges, including a severely reduced state budget. This continues to have a detrimental effect on education as demonstrated by increased class sizes, school closings, and loss of faculty. A recent Milken Institute report (3) notes that production of science and technology graduates in California is a real problem for the state’s economic competitiveness. In the San Francisco Bay Area, these challenges are compounded by one of the highest costs of living in the country, making it difficult for managers to hire and retain skilled workers. There are tremendous Bay Area-advantages for science education, including our diverse population, a veritable wealth of novel and developing technologies, tremendous venture-capital investment, and world-renowned universities. The challenge is to provide the technology to those who will need it. Many companies have recognized this need, and taken steps to create opportunities that will foster new generations of technology creators and users. Programs to develop science education tools have begun to emerge in many areas of the tech sector, including biotechnology. A few examples are Bio-Rad Laboratories, Carolina Biologicals, Fisher Scientific, and Fotodyne Incorporated. As one example, the Bio-Rad Biotechnology Explorer Program has for the past nine years provided instructors with kits and curriculum to train students in the practice of science and biology. Through its free workshops for teachers and community outreach programs, Bio-Rad and the Biotechnology Explorer Program seeks to provide educators with the tools to teach the next generation of researchers, technicians, and the informed public. Grassroots community outreach programs are also an approach that the private sector and academia are using to reach out to area students and educators and train them in the latest technologies. Examples in the San Francisco Bay Area include the UCSF Science and Health Education Partnership, Bay Area Biotechnology Education Consortium, Santa Clara County Biotechnology Education Partnership, Bio-Rad Laboratories community outreach program, Intel in Your Community, and the Genentech Educational Initiatives and Scholarships. Many of these programs provide opportunities for students to experience cutting-edge technology first-hand through internships, or team scientists with educators and students to make the latest technologies accessible to the classroom. Although these efforts are all laudable, I suggest that they do not go far enough to provide the kind of support and cohesive framework needed to educate in a coherent manner. Whereas other countries have a firm commitment to train future generations in highly technical skills, the US lacks a cohesive national policy geared towards training a technologically skilled workforce. This could leave the US at a profound disadvantage in coming years as the steady pace of technology advances. References: The Boston Foundation. Boston Indicators Report 2002. http://www.tbf.org/indicators/technology/indicators.asp?id=362 US Department of Labor. http://www.bls.gov/opub/ooq/2000/summer/art04.htm "California’s Position in Technology and Science" http://www.milkeninstitute.org/publications/publications.taf?cat=ResRep&function=detail&ID=304 Melissa was trained as a cancer biologist and an educator. She currently works for Bio-Rad laboratories developing kits and reagents to enable educators to teach current and developing technologies.