Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
and. researchers. dedicated. to. pursing. the. intersection. of. nanotechnology. and. biological.
sciences.are.increasing.in.number.
To. demonstrate. the. growth. in. nanobiotechnology,. Kim. (2007). in.
Nature Biotechnology
,.
reported.data.from.the.NIH.that.revealed.a.clear.trend.of.increased.government.expendi-
ture.on.grant.funding.and.postdoctoral.training.from.1996.through.2006..Research.grants.
awarded.by.NIH.went.from.approximately.150.to.over.550.from.2000.to.2006.almost.qua-
drupling.the.number.of.awards.in.6.years..Similarly,.the.rate.of.postdoctoral.traineeships.
went.from.zero.in.1996.to.18.in.2006..This.trend.represents.signiicant.federal.investment.
in.nanobiotechnology.research.programs.
As. noted,. faculty. members. who. work. on. nanobiotechnology. are. playing. a. signiicant.
role.in.developing.the.curriculum.for.NSE.programs..Like.the.federal.investment.by.NIH,.
universities. and. colleges. have. made. a. signiicant. commitment. by. hiring. faculty. with.
nanobiotechnology.research.programs..If.one.considers.the.investment.in.start-up.costs,.
long-term.salary.implications,.and.research.support,.hiring.faculty.members.who.special-
ize.in.nanobiotechnology.demonstrates.both.an.intellectual.and.inancial.commitment.to.
this.growing.scientiic.ield..For.example,.at.the.CNSE,.10.of.the.55.faculty.members.are.
professors. of. nanobioscience.. These. nanobioscience. faculty. members. have. built. a. very.
strong.research.and.student.base.
29.3.9 Postsecondary education in Nanobiotechnology
Our.survey.of.the.Nanowerk.database.concludes.that.there.are.mainly.graduate-level.and.
associate-level.training.programs.dedicated.to.nanobiotechnology.and.related.disciplines.
such. as. nanomedicine.. There. is. also. a. plethora. of. federally. funded. centers. located. on.
university.campuses.that.focus.on.nanobiotechnology.(Kim.2007)..Many.of.these.centers.
have.outreach.and.educational.programs.(such.as.IGERT).that.train.students.from.tradi-
tional.disciplines.in.a.collaborative.environment..Two.good.examples.of.this.method.for.
conveying.nanobiotechnology.education.are.Cornell's.Nanobiotechnology.Center.(http://
www.nbtc.cornell.edu/).and.Johns.Hopkins.Institute.for.NanoBioTechnology.(http://inbt.
jhu.edu/).
29.3.10 Associate's Programs in Nanobiotechnology
Currently,. there. are. two. Associate's. of. Applied. Science. programs. speciically. dedicated.
to. nanobiotechnology. at. community. colleges. located. in. Pennsylvania. (Westmoreland.
Community.College.and.Montgomery.Community.College)..Both.programs.offer.training.
in.basic.biology,.chemistry,.and.nanoscale.science..The.Westmoreland.Community.College.
“bionanotechnology”.degree.program.is.speciically.focused.on.training.nanotechnology-
savvy.technicians.for.work.in.pharmaceutical.research.and.manufacturing..These.students.
participate.in.the.Penn.State.NMT.capstone.course.in.nanotechnology.manufacturing.
Although.still.in.its.early.stages,.the.existence.of.these.irst.nanobiotechnician.training.
programs. is. a. harbinger. for. future. growth.. For. example,. one. expects. and. hopes. to. see.
more.nanotechnology.iniltration.into.the.curricula.offered.by.programs.associated.with.
the.NSF.ATE.Bio-Link.National.Center.(http://www.bio-link.org)..Bio-Link.is.a.very.active.
and. successful. Center. of. Excellence. for. Biotechnology. and. Life. Sciences. in. the. heart. of.
biotechnology-powered.San.Francisco..As.the.ield.expands,.one.also.expects.to.see.more.
institutions.with.undergraduate.programs.that.include.nanobiotechnology.concentrations.
and.majors.
