Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
29.3.11 graduate Training in Nanobiotechnology
The. vast. majority. researchers. working. on. nanobiotechnology. innovations. today. were.
not. trained. in. nanobiotechnology. speciically.. There. are. currently. very. few. dedicated.
nanotechnology. programs. and. even. fewer. dedicated. nanobiotechnology. programs..
In. order. to. better. understand. the. training. required. to. enter. into. this. dynamic,.
interdisciplinary. ield,. Kim. (2007). explored. the. degrees. obtained. by. researchers. who.
earned. prestigious. NIH. postdoctoral. fellowships. between. 2000. and. 2006.. The. leading.
doctoral. program. by. far. was. the. PhD. in. chemistry. followed. by. biology/biomedicine,.
and.more.distantly.by.biochemistry/biophysics,.physics,.bioengineering,.and.chemical.
engineering.
To. cross-check. these. results,. information. was. obtained. about. the. doctoral. degrees.
earned. by. the. nanobioscience. faculty. at. the. CNSE. and. the. Northeastern. IGERT.
Nanomedicine. program.. The. degrees. that. overlap. between. Kim's. (2007). analysis. and.
our.faculty.are.in.chemical.engineering.and.biological.sciences.(microbiology,.biomedi-
cine,.and.cancer.biology)..In.addition,.CNSE.faculty.members.have.degrees.in.biotech-
nology,. medicine,. pharmacology,. public. health,. and. plasma. physics.. The. main. faculty.
members.in.Northeastern.University's.Nanomedicine.IGERT.program.are.drawn.mainly.
from.chemistry,.chemical.engineering,.pharmacy,.and.physics..Northeastern.IGERT.stu-
dents.earn.graduate.degrees.from.one.of.the.participating.traditional.departments.with.
a. concentration. in. nanomedicine.. Students. of. nanobiotechnology. have. equally. diverse.
educational.backgrounds..
It.is.apparent.from.this.brief.analysis.that.institutions.that.aspire.to.confer.degrees.in.
both.NSE.and.nanobiotechnology.must.take.care.to.foster.a.widespread.understanding.of.
the.learning.outcomes.and.scientiic.skills.of.their.students.in.both.academia.and.industry.
(Van.Horn.et.al..2009a)..Biotechnology.irms.are.clearly.interested.in.the.skill.sets.provided.
by.nanobiotechnology.training;.however,.potential.employers.may.gravitate.toward.pro-
grams.with.which.they.are.familiar..Faculty.members.and.administrators.associated.with.
nanobiotechnology.programs.need.to.be.vigilant.and.vocal.about.the.value.added.by.this.
special.brand.of.interdisciplinary.training.
The.cross-pollination.of.ideas.and.techniques.that.develops.between.faculty.members.
in. interdisciplinary. programs. provides. a. good. example. for. aspiring. nanobiotechnology.
students.. Students. should. take. the. opportunity. to. work. in. different. laboratories. early.
in. their. career.. Internships. or. postdoctoral. scientists. in. laboratories. focused. in. another.
discipline.may.give.the.student.an.appreciation.of.the.culture.of.another.discipline.and.
hands-on. experience. with. new. tools. and. methods.. Nanobiotechnology. students. should.
also.avail.themselves.of.opportunities.associated.with.cross-disciplinary.research.centers.
such.as.NSF.Engineering. Research. Centers. or.Science. and.Technology.centers. that.may.
allow.them.to.participate.in.multidisciplinary.research.and.teach.them.the.skills.required.
to.lead.collaborative.research.projects.with.researchers.from.other.ields.(Box.29.1).
29.3.12 Communications Skills in Nanobiotechnology education
The. success. of. developing. technologies. requires. the. buy-in. of. multiple. stakeholders..
Effective. nanobiotechnologists. need. to. communicate. effectively. to. support. the. develop-
ment.of.their.research.(Abicht.and.Schumann.2007)..Nanobiotechnology.is.also.team.ori-
ented.. The. interdisciplinary. nature. means. that. people. with. different. backgrounds. need.
to. work. together. effectively.. Nanobiotechnologists. must. be. able. to. communicate. with.
