The following story first aired on Boston 25 News on April 2, 2024.
Bioversity is a new training program that is an initiative undertaken by MassBio, an advocacy group for the local life science industry.
“I’m very excited about it,” said Jean Julien, 28, of Mattapan.
He’s now enrolled in the second cohort of students and is dreaming of a big career in biotech.
“I see myself as a lab op, maybe at a senior level in some really fancy biotech lab.”
Julien’s class is made of 17 students who range between the ages of 19-52 years old.
The students attend classes for 8 weeks and receive a stipend to help defray their costs while attending the program.
The students are taught by professionals in the field like Professor Ronny Priefer of the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences.
Executive Director Zach Stanley says the program is great news for local employers who have been struggling to fill open positions, as well as for people of color who have been trying to break into this industry.
“There are big representation issues, especially amongst Black and Latino workers, just not meeting the states averages across the industry.”