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Gaskin: Life science jobs could elevate Boston’s future

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Gaskin: Life science jobs could elevate Boston’s future


I was excited to learn of Mayor Michelle Wu’s $4.7 million in funding to help Boston’s life science workforce and Governor Maura Healey’s $1 billion Mass Leads Act request to support the life science and climate tech industries. I was especially interested in larger funding rounds for biomanufacturing, early-stage drug and device makers, and increased workforce training and internships to bring more blue-collar workers and students without college degrees into the life science workforce.

Trinh Nguyen, Wu’s Chief of Worker Empowerment, is leading the effort to ensure these are effective public, private partnership that create jobs for those living in the Roxbury and Dorchester area. These are often six-figure jobs that could bring real economic development and wealth creation to the area.

I have been a strong supporter of advanced manufacturing in urban areas for years, even though experts told me it is impossible because Massachusetts is a high-cost manufacturing state and thus not competitive with low-cost manufacturing states. They didn’t understand advanced manufacturing and the price elasticity of biomanufacturing or building robotics and clean-tech products.

I was equally excited when Housing and Economic Development Secretary Mike Kennealy and Wu announced a MassWorks award for Nubian Square Ascends, a $111 million project to build a 200,000 sq. ft. development in Roxbury. Nubian Square Ascends is expected to create or sustain approximately 900 jobs and will include contracting opportunities for minority-owned and women-owned businesses during all phases of construction. My City at Peace and HYM Investment Group proposes to build 700,000 square feet of life science space on Parcel 3 in Roxbury.

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This is all good news considering urban manufacturing’s demonstrated impact in other cities across the country. Richard Taylor, the developer of Nubian Ascends once said that you can’t create wealth when everyone is running around with an EBT card. That hit me. Grove Hall is one of the poorest sections of Boston based on census track data. The business mix includes non-profits, storefront churches, bodegas, convenience stores, barber shops, beauty salons, and quick service restaurants. These businesses have not provided a clear path to the middle class for many owners or employees.

Nubian Square Ascends, and the new Benjamin Franklin Cummings Institute of Technology (BFCIT) campus being built adjacent to it are joining forces to establish the Nubian Ascends Life Science Job Training Center, which will house the college’s Biotech Manufacturing Training labs. The Training Center will provide new pathways for economic development in the heart of Boston. This job training hub could also anchor an ecosystem for advanced manufacturing, with a special emphasis on the biotech and clean tech sectors — two of the state’s high-growth areas. The advanced manufacturing program will run out of BFCIT and a co-location facility at the Dearborn STEM high school and could service students attending other high schools in the area or Roxbury Community College. Currently, Boston is the only region in the state that does not have a well-funded, state-supported advanced manufacturing program.

This will change because manufacturing jobs do not require an expensive or extensive post-secondary education. These jobs exist in Boston’s core and provide a clear path to the middle class for those unemployed, underemployed workers, veterans, and or union workers looking to upgrade their skills, and those with employment challenges such as CORIs. These two Nubian Square developments and their job training focus areas could change that.

There is a need to tighten the linkage between white-collar innovation jobs and blue-collar manufacturing jobs. There is no reason for us to continue to export jobs to other states and lose the jobs, revenue, and corresponding taxes. But according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, that is what we are doing. As pharma companies increase their R&D investment in the state, we continue to lose the corresponding pharmaceutical manufacturing jobs.

According to MassBio, there has been a record-setting flow of investment into Massachusetts, and now, there’s demand for new factories to make those medicines — and the workforce to go with them.

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Leveraging the Nubian Ascends and BFCIT partnership could play a central role in Greater Boston’s workforce development strategy, complementing the existing strategy to place workers in culinary, hospitality, and healthcare jobs.

The state leads in biotech, but not in biomanufacturing. The six largest employer states in the drugs and pharmaceuticals manufacturing segment are California, New Jersey, North Carolina, Illinois, New York, Pennsylvania, and Indiana. Some argue that Massachusetts cannot be a leader in manufacturing because of high energy, labor, and real estate costs. But California, New York, and New Jersey are not known for being low-cost manufacturing states.

Advanced manufacturing uses knowledge workers more than traditional “laborers.” Those involved in precision manufacturing should be thought of as artisans, making value-added parts that have high margins and are price-inelastic. Manufacturers of these parts can absorb Massachusetts’ higher manufacturing costs while remaining competitive, profitable, and growing. In addition, these jobs can’t easily be offshored.

Based on advanced manufacturing concepts, biomanufacturing includes “bio-ink” 3-D bioprinting and Biofabrication. The clinical biomanufacturing applications market is segmented into skin printing, bone and cartilage printing, blood vessel printing, and other clinical applications. Other applications include the printing of organs. A bladder was 3D printed and successfully transplanted into a human. The potential positive impact of 3D-printed organs is the ability to customize organs for the recipient. This capability would complement the state’s healthcare leadership e.g. the Longwood Medical area. Young Black and brown students, as well as adults from Roxbury and Dorchester, could be learning biomanufacturing skills. We would expect such a training facility to draw students from both the North and South shores, as well as west of the city.

It is estimated that $100 billion in capital expenditure investments will be required to bring approximately 45 gigawatts of offshore wind online in New England by 2050.

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The amount that is forecast to be spent on climate change will create significant opportunities in clean tech and workers for those opportunities could be trained in this new development.

Now is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and we need to take advantage of it. We need to embrace the advanced manufacturing industry, tighten the relationships between white-collar and blue-collar industry workers, and open up a pathway to the middle-class.

 Ed Gaskin is Executive Director of Greater Grove Hall Main Streets and founder of Sunday Celebrations.



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Boston, MA

Investigation underway after body found in water near Boston bridge – Boston News, Weather, Sports | WHDH 7News

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Investigation underway after body found in water near Boston bridge – Boston News, Weather, Sports | WHDH 7News


BOSTON (WHDH) – Authorities are investigating after a body was found in the water under a bridge in Boston.

Members of the Harbor Patrol Unit responded to the McArdle Bridge around 7:15 a.m. and found a body in the water.

Homicide detectives were requested and responded to the scene.

No additional information was immediately available.

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This is a developing news story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest details.

(Copyright (c) 2024 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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Boston doctor Derrick Todd accused of sexually assaulting 200 patients charged with rape

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Boston doctor Derrick Todd accused of sexually assaulting 200 patients charged with rape


A prominent Boston-area doctor accused in several lawsuits of sexually assaulting more than 200 former patients was indicted by a grand jury on rape charges.

Dr. Derrick Todd allegedly assaulted two women during examinations in December 2022 and June 2023 at the Charles River Medical Associates in Framingham, Mass., the Middlesex County District Attorney announced Thursday.

Todd, a rheumatologist, appeared in Middlesex Superior Court Friday after he handed himself over to police the previous night.

Dr. Derrick Todd is arraigned in Middlesex County Superior Court after he was indicted on rape charges on Jan. 17, 2025. AP

The two women had either a pelvic exam or pap smear with the doctor when the alleged assault occurred, NBC Boston reported.

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The patients alleged the exams went beyond “normal.”

One of the women endured enough pain for her to scream at Todd to stop but the doctor didn’t listen and continued the exam.

The second patient alleged she didn’t give Todd consent to perform the specific examination but the doctor went ahead despite the rejection, the outlet reported.

Todd pleaded not guilty to the two rape charges.

He was held on a $10,000 bail.

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Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital in Boston, where Todd worked for 14 years. Google Maps

A judge ordered Todd to surrender his passport, not have any contact with his alleged victims, and give up all medical licenses.

Claims of abuse from Todd date back to 2010 but only surfaced in 2023 after Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital received anonymous complaints.

Todd is the former chief of clinical rheumatology at the Boston hospital but resigned after 14 years in 2023 when two other physicians questioned the appropriateness of pelvis exams for his rheumatology patients, the Boston Globe reported.

Over 200 of Todd’s former patients accused him of performing unnecessary pelvic floor therapy, breast examinations, testicular examinations, and rectal examinations.

The accusers include over 200 women and several men between teenagers and 60-year-olds.

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Attorneys for 180 of the former patients say the two rape charges are just the start of the doctor’s legal battle.

“It’s just the beginning of the criminal case against Dr. Todd, but it does help validate the civil claims that Lubin & Meyer is pursuing on behalf of so many of his former patients,” Attorney William Thompson said. “Fundamentally, it’s about a doctor abusing his position. And taking advantage of patients who put their trust in him for his own personal sexual gratification.”

Over 200 of Todd’s former patients accused him of performing unnecessary pelvic floor therapy, breast examinations, testicular examinations, and rectal examinations. LinkedIn

Todd voluntarily ceased his medical practice in Massachusetts in September 2023.

The announcement was made in a letter to the Board of Registration in Medicine.

The class-action lawsuit against Todd also listed the hospital as a defendant for allegedly knowing about the abuse and failing to stop it.

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Todd was fired from the hospital in July 2024.

With Post wires



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O’shae Brissett, part of Boston Celtics championship, reportedly signs with Long Island Nets

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O’shae Brissett, part of Boston Celtics championship, reportedly signs with Long Island Nets


O’shae Brissett, who won a championship with the Boston Celtics in June but hasn’t played professionally since, has reportedly signed an NBA G-League level contract with the Brooklyn Nets G League team, the Long Island Nets.

Bobby Manning was first with the news Friday morning…

The 6’7” 26-year-old Brissett, a defensive specialist, will join Long Island having last played for the Boston Celtics as a part of the NBA Championship squad last year.

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In his defining moment of the title run, Brissett was inserted as a small ball center by Boston coach Joe Mazzulla in Game 2 of the Celtics-Pacers conference title series. It was his first playoff minutes, but he played a critical role defensively, picking up three steals and finishing a +15 in his 12 minutes on the court.

“Just his presence, his energy, his athleticism,” Mazzulla said after that game. “Just gave us, I think he had a dunk, got a steal, got us out in transition with a couple [of] rebounds. So just, he plays with such a high level of intensity and energy. It’s big for us.”

In his 55 games with the Celtics in the 2023-24 season, Brissett started just one and played roughly 11.5 minutes per game. He averaged 3.7 points per game, 2.9 rebounds, and 0.8 assists. He shot 44.4% from the field, 27.3% from beyond the arc. He adds yet another NBA veteran presence to the young Long Island Nets team with .

Brissett played three years with the Indiana Pacers, his best year coming in 2021-22 when he played 67 games, 25 starts, averaging 9.1 points and 5.3 rebounds.

However, he hasn’t played since the NBA Finals. Brissett, who turned 26 years old in June, declined a $2.5 million dollar player option with Boston at the end of June. He hoped that he could get more by testing the free-agent market. Similarly, the Toronto native dropped out of the Canadian national team, coached by Jordi Fernandez, to focus his free agency. However, offers or at least offers he liked never materialized and he remained a free agent until Friday.

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Brissett’s rebounding and size will give Long Island some added depth, and in Long Island’s case, a potential starter. Brissett always intended to pursue a return to the NBA, and his signing with the Long Island Nets is a first step to getting back to that dream.

Brissett also re-unites with Kendall Brown who had been his Indiana Pacers teammate two years ago.





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