On Wednesday, July 19th, at USC, BCLA presented a panel discussion focused on ‘Biotech in LA’ as part of the Bridge Undergraduate Science (BUGS) Program, an initiative led by The Bridge Institute to inspire and train the next generation of students to better understand the human body.
Adhi Sikand, BCLA Events Lead & PhD candidate at USC, presented an overview of the biotech companies, incubators and VC firms located in the area in addition to some accessible campus and community resources. Up next, Arthela Osorio, Technical Applications Specialist at Thermo Fisher Scientific & long-time BCLA Outreach Lead, shared her education and career path as well as internship opportunities currently offered by Thermo. Our second panelist, Samir Afif, Life Sciences Specialist at VWR, intrigued the students by telling the story how he unconventionally landed his current job after graduating with a PhD degree in Molecular Biology. Lastly, Jordan Depanie, President and CSO at Rubedo Pharmaceuticals LLC & PhD Candidate at USC, inspired the students with his entrepreneurial journey and how it took off at the age of eight while playing the video game Resident Evil.
The audience was a mix of high school and undergraduate students with different scientific interests ranging from human biology and chemistry to mathematics and biomedical engineering. BCLA is dedicated to contributing to the scientific education of Generation Z and so we couldn’t have been more excited for the opportunity to share our passion for biotech with the BUGS students.
