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Federal grant extends RI-INBRE program to expand region’s biotech workforce, expertise

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Federal grant extends RI-INBRE program to expand region’s biotech workforce, expertise


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.”

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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.”

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Real Housewives of Rhode Island midseason preview gets even juicier

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Real Housewives of Rhode Island midseason preview gets even juicier



On Friday, May 1, Bravo posted a mid-season preview to YouTube, giving fans a glimpse at the drama still to come during the franchise’s first season in the Ocean State.

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Enjoying “The Real Housewives of Rhode Island” so far? Buckle up – it’s about to get even juicier.

On Friday, May 1, Bravo posted a mid-season preview to YouTube, giving fans a glimpse at the drama still to come during the franchise’s first season in the Ocean State. As expected, the season will continue to follow major developing plotlines, including the fallout from Rulla Pontarelli’s reported husband’s affair and the strained relationship between Rosie DiMare and Kelsey Swanson.

However, the trailer also hints that the season will take some unexpected twists and turns, with new arguments rising between friendly cast members and personal issues coming to a head for many of the women.

Here’s a sneak peek at the rest of Season 1 of “The Real Housewives of Rhode Island.”

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What happened in ‘The Real Housewives of Rhode Island’ mid-season preview?

According to the mid-season preview, the rest of “The Real Housewives of Rhode Island” Season 1 will include many more fights between the cast members. Swanson and DiMare’s screaming matches will continue, with the trailer showing DiMare telling Swanson “Everyone in f***ing Rhode Island knows you f*** married men.”

Surprisingly, disagreements will also rise between LizMcGraw and Alicia Carmody, as well as McGraw and Jo-Ellen Tiberi. McGraw is shown telling Tiberi to get out of her face, with Tiberi storming after her yelling “what did I do?”

Meanwhile, Ashley Iaconetti will continue to struggle under the financial and emotional burden of Audrey’s, with her and husband Jared Haibon discussing their decision to renew the lease or not. After her breakup, Swanson will have to decide if her new man is worth giving up her financial comfort, while Tiberi will finally have a tough conversation with her mother.

As for Pontarelli, it seems that Tiberi will make good on her episode five promise of finding concrete proof of Brian Pontarelli’s reported affair, with multiple housewives discussing video proof in the trailer. After Pontarelli reveals to the group that Brian was arrested for tracking her, the trailer ends with the question looming over everyone’s heads: “Rulla, what are you gonna do?”.

How to watch ‘The Real Housewives of Rhode Island’

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Want to see how all the drama unfolds? “The Real Housewives of Rhode Island” will air every Sunday at 9 p.m. on Bravo. 

Watch ‘The Real Housewives of Rhode Island’ on Peacock

Episodes will be available for next-day streaming each Monday on Peacock.



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Person wearing KKK robes in R.I. was pulling a social media stunt, police say

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Person wearing KKK robes in R.I. was pulling a social media stunt, police say


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A West Warwick resident captured video of the white-robed figure wandering around town early Monday morning.

Police in Rhode Island say they’ve confirmed that videos of a person walking around a town in a Ku Klux Klan robe and hood were part of a hoax for social media, not the work of an organized group.

Social media videos appeared to show the person walking around West Warwick while dressed in white robes and a pointed hood. The incident happened on Main Street at around 2 a.m. Monday, according to West Warwick police.

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Detectives have since learned that the event was a stunt orchestrated by two brothers “to generate attention on social media and in the news,” police said on Facebook. The perpetrators admitted their involvement to police and “provided conclusive evidence” that they were the only ones responsible for the hoax.

The individuals “explicitly denounced” affiliation with hate groups, and police said that the investigation has yielded “no evidence to suggest otherwise.” For now, the investigation has been closed.

“The West Warwick Police Department would like to thank members of the community who came forward with information,” police said. “Thorough investigations such as this often rely on community involvement, and we appreciate the public’s cooperation and assistance.”

Video captured by Ryan Fitzgerald showed the hooded figure wandering around the Arctic Gazebo before heading down the street. Fitzgerald told The Boston Globe that he thought the person was “just messing around” but noted that it was indicative of broader issues.

“There’s a lot of undisclosed racism that goes on here. I hear about it all the time,” Fitzgerald told the Globe. “So it wouldn’t be shocking to me if it wasn’t a prank, and it wasn’t a hoax, and it was really somebody that really was about that kind of life.”

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House Speaker Heads Innovate Newport Panel on Island Housing – Newport This Week

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House Speaker Heads Innovate Newport Panel on Island Housing – Newport This Week


Rhode Island House Speaker Joseph Shekarchi visited Newport on April 27 as the keynote speaker at a panel discussion about the need to develop more housing on Aquidneck Island.

Shekarchi was joined by Middle­town Town Administrator Shawn Brown, Raytheon government relations and site executive Tim DelGuidice, and NOAA relocation project manager Matthew Hill.

On an island where the largest employers are Naval Station New­port and the U.S. Naval Undersea Warfare Center, and over 20,000 people work in defense-related jobs, the need for workforce housing is a particularly acute component of the crisis. A report published by the Greater New­port Chamber of Commerce said Newport and the surrounding re­gion need to build 6,000 to 9,000 housing units to keep up with workforce demand.

NOAA broke ground in 2024 at the future home of its Marine Op­erations Center-Atlantic base on a five-acre site on Naval Station New­port, and the $150 million project is scheduled to be completed in 2027. Hill said upwards of 250 fed­eral employees and their families will be relocating to Rhode Island after their current base in Norfolk, Virginia, is closed and NOAA’s new facility at Naval Station Newport is completed.

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“That provides justification for these developers to go out and secure funds,” said Hill. “You have 250 people coming here for cer­tain, with stable incomes, so these developments can start to move forward.”

Shekarchi spoke about the adaptive reuse bill signed into law by the state legislature three years ago, which was intended to make it easier for municipalities to convert old hospitals, factories and schools into housing.

“There’s a lot of municipal land, a lot of municipal buildings that could be converted into housing, that for whatever reason has been resisted by local communities,” he said.

The Oliphant and Green End proposals voted down by the Middletown Town Council in 2024 would have been such adaptive reuse projects. Shekarchi did not explicitly mention those proposals, but he suggested the Newport Jai Alai site, which he described as “desolate” in its current state, could be ideal for mixed-use commercial and residential development.

“There is so much opposition in all of our communities,” Rep. Michelle McGaw told Newport This Week. “I don’t think people recog­nize that it’s their children, it’s their grandchildren, people who grew up here and want to stay here and raise their families here but cannot afford to do so.”

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“We’re not only looking at people at 80 percent of Area Me­dian Income (AMI); there is a huge gap between what people are earning and what they can afford.”

Rhode Island AMI is approxi­mately $112,000. So, a one-person household earning about $65,000, 80 precent AMI, would qualify for affordable housing.

DelGuidice said Raytheon’s workforce, especially its younger employees, would benefit from new development on the island.

“In five years, I’d love to see that we’ve closed that gap of 9,000 units, and we’ve got more of our employees able to live closer to work and not have a 45-minute or hour-long commute,” he said.

Stressing Aquidneck Island’s need for housing across all income levels, Brown highlighted Middle­town’s approach of purchasing 6.2 acres of land in order to de­velop 36 middle-income housing units across the street from town hall. However, he said 36 planned new homes is a fraction of the island’s collective need, and he highlighted the importance of the island’s municipalities, the Navy, and private industry cooperatively maintaining and improving the island’s infrastructure in order to be able to build new housing de­velopments.

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He pointed to Middletown and Newport’s cooperative efforts on wastewater management as an example of the unseen infrastruc­ture work necessary to maintain and expand the island’s housing supply. He cited shared island in­frastructure as a critical area where state support is necessary in order to create new housing stock.

“We’re land-restricted, and we have a lot of conservation ease­ments on Aquidneck Island, which is another challenge,” Brown said. “It is going to be these areas that are either infilled or redeveloped. That is where additional housing is going to come from, and we are going to need that wastewater management capacity in order to do a lot of these developments.”

“The speakers today were very strong on the fact that we need all kinds of housing, not just higher income or middle income,” Rep. Lauren Carson told Newport This Week following the meeting. “We really need to address the broader issues here. I have confidence that policymakers, myself, the speaker and city leaders across the island know what has to happen.”





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