First cohort of new training, funded in part by MLSC’s Pathmaker grant, starts May 5 at Bioversity’s Training Lab in Dorchester

We are excited to announce our newest workforce training initiative: a six-week biomanufacturing training program developed in collaboration with the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences and Moderna. This new program advances Bioversity’s mission of connecting underrepresented and low-income populations to life sciences career paths by training more people, expanding the types of jobs our graduates are prepared to enter, and growing our network of regional industry employers.

Benefitting from Moderna’s expertise and industry insights, program graduates will be work-ready for a variety of entry-level roles in drug substance or drug product manufacturing, as well as a range of other early career positions in GMP environments such as inventory, warehousing, shipping/receiving, operations and facilities.

Training Program Details

In this full-time, six-week program, our students will graduate with the following competencies:

• Understanding the biomanufacturing industry and its career opportunities
• Professional skill development including workplace etiquette, computer literacy, communication, etc.
• Good Documentation Practices, including following standard operation procedures (SOPs)
• Lab math such as unit conversion, dilution, molarity, calculations
• Clean room/sterilization practices such as gowning, equipment sterilization, use of autoclave, etc.
• Culture techniques such as cell, bacterial, aseptic technique, etc.
• Overview of assays and protein purification
• Overview of product classes including cell and gene therapy, biopharmaceuticals, mRNA, vaccine production
• Quality and regulatory practices
• Equipment and process such as basic process monitoring, feedback, and control loop systems

Through this collaboration, students can receive hands-on training on-site at Moderna’s manufacturing facility in Norwood, MA, offering them access to cutting-edge industry practices, people, and spaces. Moderna will also help shape the curriculum and source instructors for the program.

Applications Now Open

Student applications to this program are now open on Bioversity’s website. We are seeking candidates from the Greater Boston region who are eager to join the biopharma industry, have a passion for helping people, and are open to shift-work. Applicants must be at least 18 years old, have U.S. work authorization, have at least a high school degree or equivalent, and have strong English language proficiency. Preference is given to applicants who have a drivers license and car as many of these jobs are not easily accessible on public transportation.

The first cohort begins on May 5^th at Bioversity’s Dorchester training lab.  Bioversity is actively seeking additional employer partners to inform curriculum, volunteer to help train our students, and ultimately hire our graduates.

Since Bioversity opened our doors in January 2024, we have run six cohorts of our Biotech Career Foundations program graduating 77 students, making us the biggest biotech certificate training program in Massachusetts. Our graduates earn on average $26 an hour plus comprehensive benefits while embarking on promising career paths. Along with our second training location opening in Lowell in April 2025, this program marks a significant expansion of Bioversity. We’re committed to diversifying the industry talent pool and creating greater economic opportunity throughout the region.