MDIBL presents Virtual MDI Science Cafe: Building Maine's Workforce

Description

Maine’s life sciences sector grew faster than anywhere else in New England during the pandemic years, and nonprofit education and research labs such as MDIBL and the Roux institute are expanding quickly. But can the sector support this momentum once demand subsides for some Covid-related testing and services that created hundreds of temporary jobs? We’ll talk with researchers, educators and commercial leaders about how Maine can sustain and expand its bioscience economy. Aileen Huang-Saad, Ph.D., M.B.A is associate professor of bioengineering and director of life sciences and engineering at Northeastern University’s Roux Institute (Portland, Maine). Huang-Saad leads the educational programs within the College of Science, College of Engineering, and the Bouvè College of Health Sciences at the Roux Institute. Huang-Saad has a fourteen-year history of bringing about organizational change in higher education, leveraging evidence-based practices at University of Michigan. Prior to entering higher education, Huang-Saad worked in industry, gaining experience in new venture biotech, the defense industry, and medical device testing. In 2022, she was appointed to the Maine State Governor’s Workforce Board. Huang-Saad has a Bachelor of Science in Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania, a Doctor of Philosophy from The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and a Master of Business Administration from University of Michigan Ross School of Business. James A. Coffman, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor at MDIBL and Director of the Maine Idea Network of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE) a NIH-funded statewide collaborative network of 13 academic and research institutions, led by the MDI Biological Laboratory. The overarching goal of the Maine INBRE is to strengthen biomedical research and research infrastructure in the state of Maine, by providing biomedical research resources, funding, and training to undergraduates, post-graduates, and faculty. His research at MDIBL focuses on how the environment in which you were raised effects your health, your susceptibility to disease and your rate of aging. Dr. Coffman received his doctorate in zoology at Duke University and joined MDIBL in 2005. James S. Strickland has been a leader in drug discovery and development, joining the MDI Biological Laboratory in 2021 as the director of MDI Bioscience. A division of MDBIL, MDI Bioscience is focused on using non-mammalian models such as zebrafish and C. elegans to improve efficiency and inform early decision-making during drug development. Jim holds a master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. He is an inventor of three patents covering novel compounds and one patent covering algorithms and AI for adjusting therapies and laboratory values based on patent-specific plasma volume levels. He led discovery, pre-clinical and clinical development programs at FAST BioMedical and has served on numerous boards and advisory boards, including DynoMed, Structure Medical and The Nature Conservancy of Indiana.