Preparing Students for New Opportunities in Stem Cell Technologies

Presenter:  Lisa Seidman, Madison Area Technical College, Madison, WI

Regenerative medicine is one of the rapidly growing areas in biotechnology. Madison Area Technical College has initiated a certificate program to educate students in the use of stem cells for research, clinical, and drug development applications. Students obtain extensive hands-on training in handling and characterizing stem cells. They learn about the science and ethics of stem cell use. The program also emphasizes the business and regulatory considerations relating to these cells to prepare students for employment in stem cell-based companies.

Lisa Seidman, Ph.D. has been an instructor in the Biotechnology Laboratory Technician Program at Madison Area Technical College (MATC) since 1987. She is a Co-PI of Bio-Link, a national consortium of biotechnology educational programs that is headed by the City College of San Francisco. She is the co-author of three textbooks for biotechnology students: Basic Laboratory Methods for Biotechnology: Textbook and Laboratory Reference, Basic Laboratory Calculations for Biotechnology, and Laboratory Manual for Biotechnology and Laboratory Science: The Basics. She has recently been instrumental in developing a stem cell technologies certificate program at MATC.