Grant: Collaborative Research and Training Experience

The recent COVID-19 pandemic underscored a pressing issue: the Canadian Biotechnology industry faces a significant shortage of highly qualified personnel (HQP) equipped with the relevant expertise to develop, produce, and deliver next-generation immunotherapeutics. With the increasing demand for advanced biotechnologies and immunotherapeutics, coupled with the unprecedented growth in the life-sciences and bioengineering sectors of the biotechnology industry, the current generation of skilled HQP is insufficient to meet the needs of Canada's expanding bioeconomy. This NSERC Collaborative Research and Training Program in ImmunoEngineering (ImmunoE) aims to address this shortage by training skilled HQP in the life sciences and bioengineering fields. ImmunoE builds on an established network of interdisciplinary academic and industry life scientists and engineers with expertise in immunology, cell, molecular, and genetic engineering, and biotechnology that was developed under the UBC Immunotherapeutics Research Excellence Cluster. We will leverage this network and its connections with the B.C. biotechnology industry, to train a new generation of interdisciplinary immunoengineers to innovate, develop and deliver new immunoengineering technologies for commercialization. ImmunoE is led by an interdisciplinary and diverse group of excellent established and early career researchers with a track record of inclusive training practices. It will collaborate with industry partners to train a diverse cohort of graduate students in the latest cutting-edge technologies, and provide tailored professional development, inclusive mentorship, and unique networking opportunities to create value-added training for those in the natural sciences and engineering (NSE) fields and at the NSE-Health interface. ImmunoE will accelerate the biotechnology pipeline from research innovation to industry, and train over 80 highly skilled, HQP with industry-ready technical expertise, problem-solving and professional skills, ready for productive careers in the biotechnology industry.