Bio-1 celebrates New Jersey’s role in defining and strengthening the bioscience industry during the Second Annual New Jersey Life Sciences Week.

"Growing Life Sciences in the Garden State" is the theme for the week-long event, which will take place October 20-28, 2009, and will bring together educational institutions, talent and industry experts through a series of special events, lectures and symposiums. Many of the state’s leading educational institutions, including Rutgers University, Rider University, Mercer County Community College, Middlesex County College and Brookdale Community College, will be hosts to the week’s activities.

Academic collaboration in organizing Life Sciences Week is only fitting when considering the lifeline schools provide to energizing NJ’s talented workforce. "Life Sciences is a major source of current and future economic development for New Jersey and our local colleges and universities have been critical in delivering top talent," stated Mary Ellen Clark, executive director, Central New Jersey WIRED Bio-1 program. "The talent pipeline is critical to ensure the continued growth of New Jersey’s pharmaceutical companies, research organizations and nearly 250 biotech companies," she added.

Below is a selected list of events:

· Tuesday, October 20 – Monmouth County’s Bizconnect Job Fair at Brookdale Community College will be the place for employers to connect with talent.

· Tuesday, October 20 – Careers for Women in Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Industries Panel (for Rutgers students only).

· Wednesday, October 21 – The Science and Health Fair, sponsored by the Rutgers Office of Promotion of Women in Science, Engineering and Mathematics will highlight health concerns important to students, faculty, staff, and the community and will also showcase the research of Rutgers and UMDNJ’s clinicians and scientists. Keynote speaker will be Dr. Gloria Bachmann, Director of the Women’s Health Institute.

· Thursday, October 22 – Rutgers Biotechnology Alumni Event, where graduates of Rutgers Biotechnology Program come back to discuss their current careers. This networking event is open to students from all schools.

· Saturday, October 24 – Middlesex County College will host the NJ Biosciences Forum for High School Students, which will include participation in a debate/discussion panel, an essay competition, computer technology design & presentation and a hands-on research/group project.

· Saturday, October 24 – Entrepreneur Exposé For and About Business Women will take place at the Hamilton Park Convention Center, and will showcase support tools for women starting their own business.

· Monday, October 26 – Bio-1 kicks off its Life Science Fellowship Training Program with an invitation-only orientation and career workshop for fellows and host companies. More information on how to become a fellow or host can be found at this link: http://bio-one.org/content/fellowship/index.html.

· Tuesday, October 27 – Don’t Take This Wrong, But You Are Really Good for a Girl, and Other Stories about Being a Woman in Science will take place at Mercer County Community College.

· Wednesday, October 28 – Invitation-only ceremony to celebrate a partnership with the state of New Jersey and the city of Daegu, South Korea launching a $100 million seed fund to build a bioscience cluster in the state. The event will take place at the Life Sciences Atrium at Rutgers University, Busch Campus.

Prior to the actual week, there are other key events taking place, including:

Thursday, October 15 – 6th Annual Consul Program for New Jersey Life Sciences at Raritan Valley Community College, where NJ’s academic, business and government leaders can connect with Consular Officials from over 20 countries to build investment opportunities in the areas of biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, medical devices and electronic health records.

For a detailed listed of all events going on in the month of October, including New Jersey Life Sciences Week, please go to http://www.bio-one.org/njlsw2009.html 

New Jersey Life Sciences Week is organized by Bio‐1 whose goal is to make Central New Jersey the next "hot spot" for the global bioscience industry by helping to create a skilled bioscience workforce and increasing the number of job opportunities available in the region. Bio‐1 was awarded a $5.1 million grant through the US Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration’s Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development (WIRED) initiative. The grant covers a five‐county area including: Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth and Somerset. For more information about the Bio‐1 initiative, please visit www.bio‐one.org.