Tanya Scharton-Kersten, Ph.D., and Ruben Carbonell, Ph.D., have replaced Peter Kilpatrick,Ph.D., to become chair and vice-chair of the Bioprocessing/Process Development (BPD) Group, one of eight intellectual exchange organizations hosted by the North Carolina Biotechnology Center.
Kilpatrick, head of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at North Carolina State University, stepped down at the close of the 2006-2007 seminar series after leading the group for two years.
He was preceded by Bo Arve, of Wyeth, who had also served a two-year term. The post of vice chair was added this year in response to the group's growth.
Scharton-Kersten is a senior consultant with Biologics Consulting Group in Cary. Carbonell is the Frank Hawkins Kenan Distinguished Professor at NCSU and director of the university's William R. Kenan, Jr. Institute for Engineering, Technology and Science.
Forum for Bioprocessing Issues
The Biotechnology Center's Science and Technology Development Program initiated the BPD Group in 2002 to provide a forum for process development scientists and engineers to discuss bioprocessing issues. The organization, with some 500 members, meets monthly with speakers from the industry, technology vendor companies and regulatory experts.The program content for the events is planned by experts from North Carolina-based bioprocess manufacturing companies including Diosynth, Talecris, Biogen, Wyeth and others.
Events this year included Formulation Development for Biopharmaceutical Development; Grand Challenges in the Development of Mammalian Cell Culture Production of Proteins; and a Bioprocessing and Bioseparations Development forum.
Portion of State's Robust Infrastructure
The BPD Group is part of the state's robust infrastructure for supporting North Carolina's biomanufacturing and pharmaceutical-production companies.Attracting, retaining and expanding these companies is a high priority of the state's strategic plan for biotechnology development because these companies create new high-paying jobs and attract substantial capital investment.
Other intellectual exchange groups hosted by the Biotechnology Center include:
- Atlantic Coast Chromatin Conference
- North Carolina Plant Molecular Biology Consortium
- RNA Society
- Smaller Eukaryotes Group
- Triangle Virology Association
- Triangle Array Users Group
- Triangle Immunology Interest Group
