Last month, 75 graduate students, faculty, staff, and members of Madison’s biotechnology industry gathered for the annual Biotechnology Training Program (BTP) banquet. The event celebrates the relationships and collaborations between the UW–Madison program and local biotech organizations. This year’s keynote speaker, BioForward Wisconsin CEO and UW–Madison alumna Lisa Johnson, spoke to the next generation of biotech leaders about Madison’s strength as an epicenter of health-based biotechnology and the university’s role in helping to develop creative scientists interested in building the industry.
Through BTP, graduate students in related fields have the opportunity to complete directed coursework and an industry-based internship. Students leave the program with specialized training in both academic and industry research, as well as professional connections and a first-hand understanding of how a career in industry would differ from academia. In his remarks, BTP director Brian Fox noted that 130 trainees earned their PhDs in the past 15 years.
Johnson began her address to the crowd by singing Madison’s praises. “There’s such a good quality of life here,” she said. But Johnson’s love of Madison — and Wisconsin as a whole — extends well beyond lifestyle. Speaking of the biohealth industry, including local companies like Epic and GE Healthcare, as well as Aldevron and local precision manufacturers, she enthusiastically stated that the industry is “putting Wisconsin on the map, up there with Boston” in the biotech world.
Johnson and BioForward, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting and building Wisconsin’s biohealth industry, were instrumental in securing Wisconsin’s recent designation as a Regional Technology and Innovation Hub (Tech Hub). The designation recognizes the state’s nationwide leadership in the biohealth industry, which includes collaborations, research, and educational opportunities at UW–Madison.
Importantly for the BTP trainees in attendance, Johnson emphasized that Wisconsin’s Tech Hub status will also mean an influx of jobs as biohealth companies grow and flourish. Graduating students wishing to stay in the region can look forward to an abundance of job openings in the near future, in Madison and across the state.
Harkening back to the industry internships at the core of BTP, Johnson encouraged soon-to-be graduates wanting to make a career transition from academia into industry. “You’ve all done internships. Use your connections!” she said. “And you all have such good training and experience…That’s what we need.”