Editorial-The DEB is a unique graduate program to enhance your PhD experience

By Dr. Judy Kjelstrom, director of the UC Davis Biotechnology Program and Program Coordinator of the DEB graduate program (www.deb.ucdavis.edu)

I recently co-authored a journal article showcasing this innovative graduate program which was established in 1997. We currently have 225 PhD students from 29 graduate programs. The title of this manuscript was “A Collaborative Model for Biotechnology Education and Training”.

Recent reports and a careful analysis of the job market for doctoral graduates suggest that innovative approaches and training models are needed to realign educational practices with 21st century marketplace demands. The Designated Emphasis in Biotechnology (DEB) is a successful model for meeting current training challenges in life science and engineering doctoral programs, which includes formalized coursework, informal training in team-based science, entrepreneurship and effective science communication, and exposure to “real world” research environments via internship experiences. The DEB program is effective not only because of carefully designed curriculum and training activities, but because it is nested within a robust innovation ecosystem, including administrative centers and institutes focused on creating public-private partnerships and brokering new technologies. Within the environment of a technology hub, universities and private partners can bring together diverse groups of individuals to translate ideas into real world applications. This environment gives rise to a social networking mechanism that links the intellectual and human capital of the university with the financial and social capital of the regional marketplace.

Our success is being recognized at the State and National level. I was invited to speak at the Annual California Biomedical Innovation Night on Feb 9, 2012. The focus of my talk was how the DEB graduate program is a successful graduate program that links academia to industry and government. http://californiahealthcareinstitute.blogspot.com/2012/02/speaker-spotlight-judith-kjelstrom-phd.html
As a result of this speaking opportunity, I was interviewed for an article for Science Careers. The focus of the article was how PhD programs can link students to the real world. This is a similar article to the one that was published by Nature Reviews in March 2008. http://www.nature.com/nrd/journal/v7/n3/full/nrd2542.html.

The DEB program was also featured in the 2010 California Biomedical Industry Report by CHI (California Healthcare Institute) as well as an article by Nicole Guimond Gravagna, PhD candidate in Neuroscience, University of Colorado, Denver. The title of the article was “Creating alternatives in science” in the Journal of Commercial Biotechnology (2009) 15, 161 – 170. doi: 10.1057/jcb.2008.51; published online 18 November 2008..

UC Davis and its partners are addressing the need for innovation and entrepreneurship in graduate education and training. By bringing diverse experts from the life sciences, engineering, humanities and business community together, we have built an innovation ecosystem capable of accelerating the translation of research discoveries into real world applications.

Seminars this week…

Monday, February 27th

Biofuels: Recent Advances and Applications-12:10-1pm, 1003 Kemper Hall-Susan Jenkins, Energy Biosciences Institute (EBI), UC Berkeley-Title: TBA

MIC 292 12:10-1pm, LSA 1022-Enzymology & Application Chemistry of Bioengineered Enzymes, Feng Xu, PhD, Staff Scientist, Novozymes, Inc.

Tuesday, February 28th

4pm 3001 PES- Dr. Biswapati Mandal “Is rice-based cropping system a better niche for carbon sequestration in soil?”

Department of Chemistry 4:00-5:00pm Chem 179-Sarbajit Banerjee, Buffalo (Kovnir host)

Center for Population Biology (CPB) Seminar Series 4:10 – 5:30PM 1022 Life Sciences Building-CPB Postdoctoral Fellow Search

Plant Biology Student Seminar Series 12:10 p.m. 2005 PES-Benjamin Rosen Exit Seminar Professor Cook Genome-wide characterization and evolution of legume disease resistance genes

Wednesday, February 29th

Entomology Departmental Seminar ENT 297N- 12:10-1:00 pm, 122 Briggs-Jay Rosenheim, professor of entomology at UC Davis “Insect Ecology in Natural and Agricultural Systems.” Host:Kelly Hamby of the Frank Zalom lab

Food Science & Technology Seminar 4:10 – 5:00 pm, Room 1207, RMI South Sensory Theater (occasionally has snacks)-Chris Rufer, President, The Morning Star Company

Plant Sciences Departmental Seminar 12pm-1pm PES 3001-Siew-Wai Chin (Ph.D. Candidate, Potter Lab): Diversification and Biogeography of Prunus

Thursday, March 1st

Ecology and Evolution Seminar Series 4:10-5:30 p.m 1001 Giedt-Alan Hastings TBA

MCB Joint Seminar Series 4:10pm 1022 LSA (snacks)-BMCDB Recruitment

Department of Statistics Seminars 4:10 – 5:30pm, Colloquium Room 1147 Mathematical Sciences (Refreshments at 3.30pm in Statistics Lounge, 4110 Mathematical Sciences)-Bruce Rannala Genome Center, UC Davis  

Friday, March 2nd

Biotechnology Program Seminar (MCB/ECH 294) 11:00 AM 1022 LSA- Development of an Encapsulated Stem Cell-Derived Therapy for Diabetes Chad Green, PhD, Associate Director, Device Engineering and Manufacturing, ViaCyte, San Diego, CA

Emerging Challenges in Microbiology and Immunology 12:10 1005 GBSF (often has snacks)-Manuella Raffatellu, M.D. “TBA” UC Irvine School of Medicine

Plant Biology Seminar Series 12:10pm 1022 Life Sciences-Alexandra Worden (Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute) “Biology and evolution of the world’s tiniest plants: marine picoeukaryotes” Host: Clark Lagarias

Can science be a 9-5, Mon-Fri job for PhD students? – poll on Knoepfler

Follow this link to go to the poll and let your voice be heard.

Paul Knoepfler is a professor at UC Davis. His work focusses on epigenetics and chromatin in both stem and cancer cells.