KINGSTON, R.I. — April 9, 2025 — The Rhode Island IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence (RI-INBRE) program will continue training the next generation of leaders in the region’s biomedical and biotechnology industries for the next three years after receiving a $1.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor. The new federal funding continues the program that was previously operated with more than $600,000 from the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training.

RI-INBRE’s Workforce Development and Training program was created in 2023 to provide hands-on biomedical training for students in RI-INBRE’s well-equipped Centralized Research Core Facility on the University of Rhode Island’s Kingston Campus. The program’s mission is to provide trainees with valuable biotech skills and to make those trainees preferred new hires for the Rhode Island biotechnology industry once they graduate.

Expert faculty at RI-INBRE network institutions design and conduct 12 intensive, 2.5-day training modules for small groups of trainees, allowing instructors to provide individual attention for each participant. Students in chemical, biological, bioengineering, and other health sciences are encouraged to apply. The program is open to students at the 10 colleges and universities in the state that partner with RI-INBRE, funded by federal National Institutes of Health grants.

“We’re offering a dozen of mostly basic biomedical skill sets—enzyme assays, cell culture, drug delivery and detection, etc.,” said Bongsup Cho, director of RI-INBRE and professor of pharmacy at URI. “It’s a very intensive program. Students participate in project work by choosing a major professor during the summer and working in their lab. They learn techniques by carrying out the projects. The people who hire these students like to see that kind of additional experience.”

All training modules are offered free of charge and provide instruction on the theory and practice of operating molecular and cellular analysis equipment, as well as training in scientific methods and data analysis. Courses include basic lab skills, biological data science, cell and tissue culture, DNA manipulation, fluorescence microscopy, and more. Students also learn basic lab techniques, which Cho said are valuable to prospective employers. Participants who complete a training module earn a RI-INBRE-branded certificate.

The program is run out of the RI-INBRE core facility, which is housed in URI’s Avedisian Hall. The advanced facilities in the College of Pharmacy and RI-INBRE’s lab allow rising juniors and seniors to learn hands-on with professional equipment. Students travel to URI from one of the RI-INBRE participating schools—which include URI, Brown University, Bryant University, Rhode Island College, Providence College, Johnson & Wales University, Roger Williams University, Salve Regina University, Community College of Rhode Island, and New England Institute of Technology.

“This is possible because we have an excellent instrument core facility; we already have the equipment. If you were to run this program from scratch, it would cost millions of dollars,” Cho said. “The bottom line is this is a great activity where URI is leading, initially supported by the state government, and now supported by the federal government, which sees this as a great opportunity in workforce development. I want to thank Sen. Jack Reed and the Rhode Island congressional leaders for their help securing this important project.”

The RI-INBRE program, a statewide network, is a cornerstone in building Rhode Island institutions’ biomedical research capacity. Over the past 24 years, it has expanded its scope from basic biology, chemistry, and pharmaceutical sciences to engineering, data science, and health sciences. This expansion has increased research funding, bringing more than $100 million for biomedical research capacity to Rhode Island.

 “The program allows students the opportunity to explore the basics of different research opportunities and pathways and understand what they enjoy,” said Kiera Aviles, a URI pharmacy student who has taken several of the modules. “It allows students to participate in these modules to learn, and enhance their knowledge and research skills. It empowers students in research and encourages their professional and personal development.”