IDEA-CBMS – Increase Diversity, Equity, and Advancement in Cell Based Manufacturing Sciences

Solano Community College's runs its CIRM COMPASS program through its Biotechnology department. The Biotechnology program offers several certificates, an Associates degree, and a Bachelor of Science in Biomanufacturing. With dual enrollment courses taught by college faculty in the local high schools, and with partnerships with nine universities, this program provides a complete educational pathway (from high school through graduate school) to members of the community (and beyond). Built into this pathway are multiple entry and exit points, and graduates enjoy a near 100% placement rate into a high wage, high potential-for-upward-mobility careers. Historically the program trained graduates to grow cells that produce pharmaceutical proteins and to carry out the unit operations to recover and isolate those proteins to purity. The CIRM COMPASS program catalyzed the expansion of the program into education and training about stem cells and regenerative medicine. Solano Community College (located half-way between San Francisco and Sacramento) was one of the first colleges, 2-year or 4-year, to offer a biotechnology program that emphasized the skills and knowledge required to go into the manufacturing (rather than research) sector of the biotechnology industry. Over the years, this curriculum has been disseminated to other colleges and our faculty continue to mentor biotech programs around the country. The biotechnology program serves a diverse student population (drawn from the most diverse county in California and containing the most diverse city in the United States) by providing academic and workforce training that allows graduates to either continue their education or to enter the workforce. In the last several years, Solano College designed and launched its Certificate of Achievement in Cell and Gene Therapies/ Stem Cells. Courses and the program were taken through the local, regional, and statewide curriculum approval process and are now listed in the college catalog. Students stack this three course certificate on top of the existing core Industrial Biotechnology certificate. The courses emphasize aseptic technique, mammalian cell culture, analytical techniques, and the regulatory considerations that apply to the production of these emerging therapies. CIRM COMPASS scholars completed these courses as preparation for their summer internships. The Solano Community College's CIRM COMPASS program supported five undergraduate trainees in its first year and placed them into summer internships: two at Stanford University's Laboratory for Cell and Gene Medicine, one in a research laboratory on the main campus of the University of California, Davis, and two at UC Davis' stem cell cGMP facility in Sacramento. All students were enrolled in the Biomanufacturing Bachelors degree and were taking upper division courses that emphasized engineering principles important in biomanufacturing unit operations, advanced cell therapies, business principles (including supply chain, Total Quality Management, Six Sigma, and Lean Manufacturing), operational excellence, technical writing, project management, and bioethics. In the second year the CIRM COMPASS program is supporting seven additional scholars that also have gained valuable background knowledge and laboratory skills by completing the Cell and Gene Therapy/ Stem Cell certificate. All of these CIRM scholars will have completed their Junior year in the Bachelors of Science in Biomanufacturing degree and will participate in a summer internship in where they will conduct research or production of regenerative medicine products in Summer 2024. Over the academic year CIRM COMPASS scholars met regularly with their faculty to discuss issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion in STEM. They discussed topics important to professional and academic development, and strategies for career advancement after graduation. CIRM COMPASS scholars regularly attend academic conferences, attend professional development events held by biotechnology trade organizations, participate in industry specific training offered by these organizations, pursue professional certifications, and attend lectures by guest speakers from the industry, and tour biotechnology companies. CIRM Scholars have applied what they have learn to engage the broader community. Trainees volunteered for community outreach events, especially working with the non-profit organization Be-The-Match to organize three events on campus that recruited hundreds of students to be tissue typed to enter into a national bone marrow registry. CIRM Scholars work with the adult school, high schools, elementary students, and a pre-school to promote STEM. The Solano College CIRM COMPASS program helps promote the development of a well-trained and diverse workforce that will become leaders in the promotion of the development and production of cell and gene therapies that will serve patients, our communities, and our country.

The Solano College CIRM COMPASS grant scholars are all enrolled in the Bachelors of Science in Biomanufacturing program. Most have also completed the Certificate of Achievement in Cell and Gene Therapy program offered by the college's biotechnology department. Each scholar received intensive laboratory training, participated in multiple outreach events, attended multiple conferences, met once a week to discuss equity in the laboratory and the clinic, and underwent professional development training. During this reporting period the first cohort of CIRM COMPASS scholars graduated (5 scholars), the second cohort experienced their summer internship (7 scholars), and grant administrators recruited and mentored the third cohort (of 10 scholars). Each of the students of the first cohort graduated in 2024. One student applied to and was accepted into two graduate programs; she is now attending UC Berkeley’s Masters of Bioprocess Engineering and will graduate in May 2025 . Another student was hired by Genentech Vacaville but then transitioned to Stanford’s Laboratory for Cell and Gene Medicine, the site of his summer internship. Another also returned to the site of his summer internship and now works at UC Davis’ GMP stem cell facility in Sacramento. Another was hired by Genentech Vacaville (now owned by the pharmaceutical company Lonza). Each of the students in the second cohort completed summer internships in either industry or at an academic facility. They worked at UC Davis' GMP stem cell facility, in academic laboratories on the main campus of UC Davis, at Stanford University's Laboratory for Cell and Gene Medicine, and at Tenaya Therapeutics. Several students presented their research as posters and in talks and all of them presented their research to the Solano College community. Each of the cohorts partnered with our non-profit partner "Be-the-Match" (now the National Bone Marrow Registry). In three different registry drives where buccal samples were taken for tissue typing, CIRM scholars served as donors as well as volunteers and recruiters. In a remarkable occurrence, one of the CIRM scholars matched and was flown to New York to serve as a donor for a 14 year patient. Each scholar became part of an academic mentorship and outreach program where they volunteered many times in outreach programs for schools from underserved communities in an effort to recruit the students into STEM fields. They also worked with the local adult school in an effort to recruit underemployed adults into their college's biotechnology program. Over the course of the year, the CIRM COMPASS scholars engaged in outreach events targeting people from pre-school through elementary school, through high school, and including adult learners. The students also attended many conferences over the course of the year including the International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineers and the local festival called Bioville. They volunteered at the conference sponsored by the California Biomanufacturing Center called "Gene Acres." The CIRM scholars also sponsored an Earth Day event that introduced STEM topics to other students at the college. The faculty gave over 30 talks on cell and gene therapy to various audiences and to community groups. These groups ranged from elementary school students to a retirement community. They included several Rotary Clubs, Kiwanis Clubs, the Veterans of Foreign Wars. A very broad range of audiences received a talk about stem cells and cell and gene therapy, and about the Solano College CIRM effort. The program targets students who might have been overlooked at a giant university, places them in a cohort where their peers offer support, gives them the knowledge and skills to excel in a summer internship, and counsels them by providing career development tools. All graduates from cohort one are now employed (two of them in the laboratories where they did their internships) or are pursuing graduate degrees. Solano College developed the Cell and Gene Therapy certificate that supports the CIRM program by giving students the scientific and regulatory knowledge of cell therapies (like CAR-T), gene therapies, stem cell therapies, and gene editing. For twenty-seven years our college has cultivated industry relationships that offer alternative sector opportunities that do not require specialized graduate education. We developed a Bachelors degree where the lower division courses integrate seamlessly into the program. We have built a relationship with 13 university graduate programs. Taken together, our program provides a complete education pathway from high school through PhD with multiple entry and exit points.

Solano Community College runs its CIRM COMPASS program through its Biotechnology department. The Biotechnology program offers several certificates, an Associates degree, and a Bachelor of Science in Biomanufacturing. With dual enrollment courses taught by college faculty in the local high schools, and with partnerships with fifteen universities, this program provides a complete educational pathway (from high school through graduate school) to members of the community (and beyond). Built into this pathway are multiple entry and exit points, and graduates enjoy a near 100% placement rate into a high wage, high potential-for-upward-mobility career. Historically the program focused on pharmaceutical protein production. The CIRM COMPASS program catalyzed the expansion of the program into education and training about stem cells and regenerative medicine and cell and gene therapy. Solano Community College was one of the first colleges, 2-year or 4-year, to offer a biotechnology program that emphasized the skills and knowledge required to go into the manufacturing (rather than research) sector of the biotechnology industry. Over the years, this curriculum has been disseminated to other colleges and our faculty continue to mentor biotech programs around the country. The biotechnology program serves a diverse student population (drawn from the most diverse county in California and containing the most diverse city in the United States) by providing academic and workforce training that allows graduates to either continue their education or to enter the workforce. In the last several years, Solano College designed and launched its Certificate of Achievement in Cell and Gene Therapies/ Stem Cells. The courses emphasize aseptic technique, mammalian cell culture, analytical techniques, and the regulatory considerations that apply to the production of these emerging therapies. CIRM COMPASS scholars completed these courses as preparation for their summer internships. The Solano Community College's CIRM COMPASS program supported five undergraduate trainees in its first year and placed them into summer internships: two at Stanford University's Laboratory for Cell and Gene Medicine, one in a research laboratory on the main campus of the University of California, Davis, and two at UC Davis' stem cell cGMP facility in Sacramento. All students graduated. Two became employed by the facilities where they completed their summer internship. One has since completed a Masters degree and one is currently in a Masters program. In the second year the CIRM COMPASS program supported seven additional scholars. The third year supported fourteen. All of these CIRM scholars completed their Junior year in the Bachelors of Science in Biomanufacturing degree, all participated in summer internships (on the UC Davis main campus, at the cGMP facility run by UC Davis in downtown Sacramento, at the Stanford Laboratory for Cell and Gene Medicine, and for a private company) and all graduated in May 2025. All but one are employed the other is in a post-baccalaureate program in regenerative medicine at Stanford University. One is employed in the laboratory where she interned. In the third year there were 14 scholars - all participated in summer internships (on the UC Davis main campus, at the cGMP facility run by UC Davis in downtown Sacramento, at the Stanford Laboratory for Cell and Gene Medicine, and for a private company) and all are currently in their senior year in the Biomanufacturing baccalaureate and will graduate in Spring 2026. Over the academic year CIRM COMPASS scholars met regularly with their faculty to discuss issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion in STEM. They discussed topics important to professional and academic development, and strategies for career advancement after graduation. CIRM COMPASS scholars regularly attend academic conferences, attend professional development events held by biotechnology trade organizations, participate in industry specific training offered by these organizations, pursue professional certifications, and attend lectures by guest speakers from the industry, and tour biotechnology companies. CIRM Scholars have applied what they have learn to engage the broader community. Trainees volunteered for community outreach events, especially working with the non-profit organization Be-The-Match to organize three events on campus that recruited hundreds of students to be tissue typed to enter into a national bone marrow registry. CIRM Scholars work with the adult school, high schools, elementary students, and a pre-school to promote STEM. The Solano College CIRM COMPASS program helps promote the development of a well-trained and diverse workforce that will become leaders in the promotion of the development and production of cell and gene therapies that will serve patients, our communities, and our country.