NC HBCU/HAIU Two-Week Biomanufacturing Training

The Process of Biomanufacturing

In biomanufacturing, making a medicine or therapeutic product involves two main steps: 

1. Upstream processing is where it all begins. This step focuses on growing special cells, like E. coli, engineered to produce helpful proteins. You will learn how to prepare nutrients for the cells, create the right conditions to grow them in bioreactors, and trigger them to start making the product.
2. Downstream processing comes next and involves collecting, purifying, and refining the product from the cells to make sure it is safe and ready to use. 

In this course, you will get hands-on experience making and purifying a glowing protein called GFP (Green Fluorescent Protein). You will learn to safely work in a lab, prepare solutions, use key equipment like bioreactors, centrifuges, and chromatography systems, and follow industry standards like current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).

By the end of the program, you will understand how biological medicines are made, having developed valuable hands-on technical experience that can help launch your career in biomanufacturing.

Federal Funding Fuels Program Growth

The Economic Development Administration / Build Back Better (EDA/BBB) Regional Challenge awarded a four-year, $6.2M grant to North Carolina Central University - Biomanufacturing Research Institute and Technology Enterprise (NCCU-BRITE) in September 2022. 

This grant aims to establish and operationalize a two-week Bioprocessing training program at six HBCU/HAIU university locations. The program will train a workforce from economically marginalized counties within North Carolina.