The Golden LEAF Biomanufacturing Training and Education Center (BTEC) continues to work toward expanding its research and educational programs in an initiative called BTEC 2.0. Led by BTEC Director Gary Gilleskie, this initiative engages a part-time Senior Research Scientist who will support the establishment of BTEC 2.0 by serving as a liaison to stakeholders to bolster support for the initiative.
BTEC 2.0 will feature a Biopharmaceutical Manufacturing Faculty Cluster. The cluster will lead university-wide, trans-disciplinary research and educational efforts related to the discovery, process development and manufacturing of next-generation biologics including protein therapeutics, gene & cell therapies, nucleic-acid-based products, and vaccines. The objectives are: (1) to enhance the university’s participation in large research efforts funded by federal agencies, non-profits, industry, and other academic institutions in the U.S. and worldwide, and (2) to develop new academic programs to educate and train undergraduate and graduate students in the State of NC and the world, on state-of-the-art biopharmaceutical manufacturing technologies, (3) to identify opportunities for applications of these new technologies to other areas of biomanufacturing.
To realize the BTEC 2.0 vision, financial support from industry and state government will be leveraged. As a liaison, the Senior Research Scientist position is integral to obtaining this support. In addition, the Senior Research Scientist position is integral to the research program being proposed to the Novo Nordisk Foundation (NNF) as the Sustainable and Accessible Manufacturing of Biologics (SAM-Bio) program. SAM-Bio is a follow-on program to the successful Accelerated Innovation in Manufacturing Biologics (AIM-Bio) program already funded by the NNF. The NC Board of Science, Technology and Innovation held its Board meeting at BTEC on November 7, 2023, and was informed about the necessity of BTEC 2.0 for the NC to maintain its leadership position in the country in the area of biopharmaceutical manufacturing.
Dr. Juan Torres was hired as the Sr. Research Scholar and started at BTEC on January 16, 2024, in a part-time (0.25 FTE) role. Dr. Torres has a Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Toxicology from NC State and followed that up with a postdoctoral fellow position in NC State’s Chemical Engineering department. He has a wealth of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, most recently serving as the Chief Quality Officer at Biogen. He has also worked at Centocor and Bayer. Dr. Torres is in the process of engaging with a number of companies, including Biogen, Fujifilm Diosynth, and Amgen, to support the BTEC 2.0 initiative. In addition, Dr. Torres is working closely with NCLifeSci (the North Carolina Life Sciences Organization) to realize the vision of BTEC 2.0.