BIOTECH Pathways Summer Institute 2024

Harford Community College hosted eight local high school students for its innovative, grant-supported BIOTECH Pathways Summer Institute, held July 29-August 2. The Summer Institute, open to all 2023-24 high school students and new graduates who had taken at least one high school biology course, gave the students an opportunity to gain hands-on biotechnology skills and learn more about what a career in biotech has to offer.

The program offered hands-on laboratory experiences to teach students the basic skills of biotechnology and cutting-edge techniques, including clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR). CRISPR is a gene-editing technology with promising applications in biomedicine and agriculture.

The Summer Institute included information about biotechnology applications and careers, hands-on lab work, guest speakers, and information about Harford's biotech programs and how to apply to the College. On the final day of the program, students delivered poster presentations summarizing their week’s project to parents and local biotechnology experts, some of whom are members of the advisory board for the program.

Dr. Pamela Pape-Lindstrom, Dean, Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics; Jaclyn Madden, Professor of Biology and Biotechnology; Breonna Martin, Assistant Professor of Biology; and Dr. Susan Walker, Associate Professor of Biology, are members of Harford Community College’s Biotechnology team that was responsible for the Summer Institute. 

BIOTECH Pathways is supported through a $493,912 grant (Grant No. 2000193, Jaclyn Madden, Principal Investigator) from the National Science Foundation and was developed to create accessible pathways for future biotechnicians to progress from public high schools to degree and certificate programs, to biotechnology careers and/or further study at four-year universities. The project is open to all and additionally targets students traditionally underrepresented in STEM, thus providing opportunities for upward socioeconomic mobility by generating access to biotechnology careers.

For more information, email Jaclyn Madden at jmadden@harford.edu.