Bunker Hill Community College Wins Major Endorsement for Biotechnology Courses

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Dec 16, 2010, 02:31 ET

BOSTON, Dec. 16, 2010 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The new biotechnology curriculum at Bunker Hill Community College is one of the first in the state to win a Silver endorsement from the new Massachusetts Life Science Education Consortium. The Consortium's endorsement of the College's program acknowledges that it is successfully training students to work in biotechnology companies and allowing the state to keep a competitive edge.

To receive the endorsement, the College developed a new curriculum teaching core competencies, set by industry, for working in biotech. The curriculum includes: biochemistry, cell biology, genetics, molecular biology, immunology, bioinformatics and microbiology.

"This award is a unique example of higher education, the biotechnology industry and government working together to provide excellent educational opportunities for students," said Dr. James F. Canniff, Bunker Hill Community College Vice President for Academic Affairs and Student Services.

"The endorsement is the first step in the collaboration between industry and academia to raise the level of workforce preparedness," said Lance Hartford, Executive Director of MassBioEd, a backer with MassBio of the new endorsement program.

Dr. Belinda L. Kadambi, Assistant Professor in the Science and Engineering Department, established the new program. "Dr. Kadambi was hired only a year ago as our new Coordinator of Biotechnology, but in this short time she has worked determinedly to meet the requirements for this certification," said Robert L. Steeper, Professor and Chair of the Science and Engineering Department.

CONTACT INFORMATION:
Colleen Roach
Executive Director of Communications & Marketing
Bunker Hill Community College
250 New Rutherford Avenue
Boston, MA 02129
Phone: (617) 228 2177; Email: [email protected]

Bunker Hill Community College is the largest community college in Massachusetts. The College enrolls more than 12,000 students on two campuses and at four satellite locations. BHCC is one of the most diverse institutions of higher education in Massachusetts. Six in ten students are people of color and more than half of BHCC's students are women. The College also enrolls more than 700 international students who come from more than 90 countries and speak 75 different languages.

SOURCE Bunker Hill Community College