2024

Biotech Beat is a new podcast featuring the stories of community college alumni working in biotech!  Each episode features a community college alum’s biotech education and career path.

Listen on Spotify, iHeart Radio, Apple Podcasts or search for Biotech Beat on your favorite podcast app!

A new episode can be found the first Monday of each month!

May 2024

The 31st CCSF Biosymposium was held in-person at UCSF and hosted over 115 attendees! The Poster Sessions included posters from 16 CCSF Biotechnology program students, including students who did internships at UCSF, Gladstone Institutes, Cytokinetics, Vitalant, Stanford and Cel Analytical. Thank you to everyone who attended!

May 2023

The 30th CCSF Biosymposium was held back in-person at UCSF and hosted over 120 attendees! The Poster Sessions included posters from 24 CCSF Biotechnology program students, including students who did internships at UCSF, Gladstone Institutes, Cytokinetics, Vitalant and Cel Analytical. A wonderful event with lots of energy, networking and smiles! Thank you to everyone who attended.

2023

Four CCSF Biotech Alumni have recently been featured on the Talking Technician Podcast: Sofia, Olga, Miko & Jose! To learn more about their journeys through the CCSF Biotech program and accompanying internships, also check out their alumni profiles:  Sofia, Olga, Miko & Jose.

2022

With support from a new CCSF-UCSF NSF ATE grant project, University of California at San Francisco (UCSF) and City College of San Francisco (CCSF) partnered with the California Life Sciences (CLS) Racial & Social Equity Initiative to pilot the Inclusive Research Mentor-Manager Training series aimed at helping life science labs and organizations build inclusive management practices and work places. Over 330 scientists from academia, industry and government participated in the workshop series (held in Spring & Fall), including over employees from over 50 biotech companies/organizations. This training was designed to teach current and future industry professionals how to efficiently and effectively train, performance manage, and support interns and employees of diverse backgrounds in an effort to foster inclusive, high-functioning working relationships. Read more here.

December 2021

The 28th CCSF Biosymposium was held virtually via Remo. The December 17th Virtual Poster Sessions included posters from 39 CCSF Biotechnology program students, including students who did internships at UCSF, Gladstone Institutes, and BioLumen. Missed the poster session? You can still check them out here.

May 2021

The 27th CCSF Biosymposium was held virtually via Remo. The May 21st Virtual Poster Sessions included posters from 39 CCSF Biotechnology program students, including students who did internships at UCSF, Gladstone Institutes, Vitalant, Tenaya Therapeutics, DC3 Therapeutics and Prosetta Biosciences. The two poster sessions had over 140 attendees! Missed the poster session? You can still check out all the Career Exploration Posters & Internship Research Posters.

May 2021

A group of 16 UCSF graduate students and postdocs completed over 12 hours of training on in inclusive practices for mentoring, supervising and training. They were then coached in inclusive managing/mentoring practices while hosting CCSF Bioscience Interns from Jan-May 2021. We applaud their leadership and celebrate their efforts toward becoming inclusive mentors and managers! Learn more about our National Science Foundation supported CCSF-UCSF collaboration with UCSF here which is allowing us to develop innovative programs and training for both CCSF interns and their internship mentors.

April 2021

Thank you to the 26 biotech/life science professionals now working at UCSF, LBNL, Denali Therapeutics, Genentech, International Flavors & Fragrances, Nitrome Biosciences, HappiLabs, UC Berkeley, Compugen, Mission Bio, Artemys Foods, Sangamo Therapeutics, Inc., Skyline College, Apex Career Resources and Mantra Bio for sharing their experiences, career journey and advice with CCSF Biotech students!

February 2021

For a second semester in a row CCSF Biotech alumni came to support current students in the program & building community for all in the sciences!

Thank you to the 11 alumni now working at University of California, San Francisco, USDA, Audentes Therapeutics, Stanford University, Color Health, Joint BioEnergy Institute, CODA Biotherapeutics, Gladstone Institutes, Chimera Biotherapeutics, and Mantra Bio for sharing your experiences, career journey and advice with current CCSF Biotech students!

January 2021

Congratulations to CCSF Biotech alumni that landed Biotech jobs and started graduate programs in 2020! 

Including:

• Joshua Aldon - Manufacturing Associate, Color

• Carina Ancheta - Clinical Laboratory Accessioner, Color

• James Bui - Graduate Student, Integrative Pathobiology, UC Davis

• Monruedee Chonganurakkun - Research Associate, Tenaya Therapeutics

• Aurélie Fuentes - Graduate Student, Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of Laval 

• Darrin Goodness - Laboratory Associate, Synthego

• Shayan Hosseinzadeh - Graduate Student, Molecular & Cellular Biology, UC Berkeley

• Jacqueline Laurel (left) - Research Associate position at CODA Biotherapeutics

• Amy Li - Manufacturing Associate, Boehringer Ingelheim

• Fatima Murad - Operations Assistant, Nitrome Biosciences

• Joy Okoro - Production Associate, Twist Bioscience 

• Jose Valenzuela - Biological Science Aide, USDA

December 2020

Learn about the CCSF Biotech program with this 4 min video overview.

December 2020

The 26th CCSF Biosymposium was held virtually via Remo and Zoom. The December 18th Virtual Poster Session included posters from 28 CCSF Biotechnology program students, including students who did internships at UCSF, Kaya17 and JFEX. The poster session had over 125 attendees! Missed the poster session? You can still check out all the Biotech student posters here.

October 2020

Thank you to the 20 Biotech professionals from UCSF, Denali Therapeutics, CytomX Therapeutics, Nitrome Biosciences, Gladstone Institutes, Neurona Therapeutics, DuPont Industrial Biosciences, Artemys Foods, Ambys Medicines, Ipsen, Cortexyme, HappiLabs, MacroGenics and Mantra Bio who participated in our Fall 2020 Virtual Speed Networking Event, networking and sharing their career journeys and expertise with over 30 current CCSF Biotech students! 

September 2020

The CCSF Biotechnology Program held their first Alumni Networking Event, September 4th, via Zoom with 11 CCSF Biotech alumni working at UCSF, USDA, Nitrome Biosciences, Gladstone Institutes, Neurona Therapeutics, Chimera Biotherapeutics, UCSC, UC Merced and Mantra Bio! They networked with over 30 current CCSF Biotech students, sharing their experiences from the program and their current careers.  Great way to kick off the virtual Fall semester!

August 2020

Janice Wong completed a CCSF Bioscience Internship in Spring 2018 at Genentech which has led to her becoming a co-author on a peer-reviewed publication: Nanolipoprotein Particles as a Delivery Platform for Fab Based Therapeutics! Congratulations Janice, who is currently working as a computational chemist at CBN.

July 2020

The CCSF Biotechnology Program hosted a video presentation for the 2020 HI-TEC Conference, featuring the collaboration developed between our Biotech program and UCSF to train UCSF researchers in inclusive workplace practices and empower CCSF students to recognize and request those practices. Check out the presentation here.

Summer 2020

Watch UCSF Stem Cell researcher, Alicia Barcena, talk about her experiences with interns and employees that have come through the CCSF Biotech program here.

Watch CCSF Biotech alum, Shayan Hosseinzadeh, talk about his experiences in the CCSF Biotech program and his path to a career at the CZ Biohub and now graduate school at UC Berkeley here.

May 2020

13 CCSF Bioscience interns completed internships at UCSF, Gladstone Institutes & Cel Analytical through shelter-in-place this past semester. Their dedication & determination to continue their internships remotely speaks volumes! Check out their virtual posters and their stories here.

May 2020

An inaugural group of 14 UCSF graduate students and postdocs completed over 16 hours of training on being mentors, supervisors, and educators. They were then coached through the hiring and managing/mentoring process for four months. They began working with their CCSF Bioscience interns in February 2020 and continued to do so through the shut-down of UCSF labs in March - May 2020. We applaud their intrepid leadership and celebrate their efforts toward becoming inclusive mentors and managers! Learn more about our National Science Foundation supported CCSF-UCSF collaboration with UCSF here which is allowing us to develop innovative programs and training for both CCSF interns and their internship mentors.

May 2020

We are thrilled to announce our recent peer-reviewed publication from our CCSF-UCSF collaboration in the Inclusive Science Edition of the Journal of Microbiology Biology Education: The Supervisory Role of Life Science Research Faculty-The Missing Link to Diversifying the Academic Workforce? 

The paper outlines inclusive practices in research mentoring that we hope will be helpful to others looking to develop more transparent and inclusive biotech and bioscience lab environments. 

April 2020 - Updated June 2020

Science writer, Tyler Ford, interviewed CCSF Bioscience Internship mentors and mentees creating articles describing how this CCSF Biotechnology internship program fosters scientific growth and professional development for both. Check out the articles here.

May 2020

The 25th CCSF Biotechnology Program's Biosymposium was held virtually for the Spring 2020 semester over 3 live Zoom events: Virtual Speed Networking, Virtual "Poster" Sessions & Virtual Mock Interviews. Over 30 volunteers from 18 different organizations came together to support CCSF Biotechnology students completing their Bioscience internships, stem cell internships and Career Exploration. Learn more about the Virtual Biosymposium experience here.

April 2020

CCSF Biotechnology students ended up on the front cover of the latest Bio-Rad Explorer Catalog! Check it out here.

April 2020

Learn more about the CCSF Biosymposium and how it supports CCSF Biotech student transitions into the STEM workforce in this article written by science writer, Tyler Ford.

February 2020

In a webinar hosted by Stanford Research Institute of Education and NSF ATE Central, the CCSF Biotechnology program's collaboration with UCSF, the 2nd largest employer in San Francisco, was highlighted as an example of effective coaching principles and methods for employability skills for technicians. You can find a recording of the webinar and see the presentation slides here.

December 2019

Congratulations to Joy Okoro on winning the CCSF Career Exploration poster award at the Fall 2019 CCSF Biosymposium! Joy's poster topic was Lyme Disease: B. Burgdorferi – Vector Colonization to Host Transmission. Learn how you can jump start your career in biotech through the CCSF Biotechnology program here!

December 2019

Congratulations to Nico Delaeter (left, with Dr. Agard) on winning the CCSF Bioscience Internship poster award at the Fall 2019 CCSF Biosymposium! Nico participated in research investigating molecular chaperone proteins in the Agard lab at UCSF. See Nico's poster and read about Nico's internship with his mentor Dr. Yanxin Liu here.

December 2019

Another great Biosymposium! Over 30 CCSF Biotech students presented poster including CCSF Bioscience Interns who did semester long internships at UCSF, ABPDU/LBNL, Dorian Therapeutics, Cel Analytical, USDA and Valencia Street Food Safety. Over 30 volunteers from UCSF, Veracyte, Bio-Rad, BABEC, Skyline College, SciBac, SFSU, Aduentes, Prosetta Biosciences, Pheronym, Amunix, and CCSF made it all come together with mock interviews, poster evaluations, networking discussions and a panel discussion on mentoring. Read more about the event here.

November 2019

The CCSF Biotechnology Program is collaborating with the Office of Career Planning & Development at UCSF to provide UCSF Life Sciences trainees with skills and experience in mentoring, including advising, supervising, and training, so they can support diversity in their research teams. Fellows in the program will host a CCSF Bioscience Intern for one semester and will be provided both expert support and a peer community to resolve mentoring challenges, as well as recognition of the Fellows' work. To learn more about this collaboration visit: https://career.ucsf.edu/phds/academic-careers/TRAIN-UP/inclusive-mentoring-fellows-program  

November 2019

Naledi Saul, Director of the Office of Career Planning & Development at UCSF gave a presentation on "How to use an Interview to Tell if a Lab is Toxic or a Bad Fit" at CCSF. Naledi provided CCSF Biotechnology students the tools to investigate if a lab aligns with their values and goals, and will recognize their strengths. This workshop, originally designed for UCSF graduate students, is part of a collaborative NSF funded grant between CCSF and UCSF to promote better working relationships between students interns and their workplace mentors, and to empower community college students with the tools they need to navigate the STEM workforce. To learn more about this collaboration visit: career.ucsf.edu/NSFATE2018 

October 2019

The CCSF Biotechnology Program visited both San Francisco State University (SFSU) and University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC) to talk about internship opportunities for all students in biotech. Learn more about our two innovative internship programs here and learn more about our program's alumni here.

October 2019

The CCSF Biotechnology Program showcased their work in collaboration the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Office of Career Planning & Development at the 2019 National Science Foundation (NSF) Advanced Technological Education (ATE) PI conference in Washington, D.C. With the support of NSF, CCSF and UCSF are working to strengthen productive working relationships between student interns and their workplace mentors in science. To learn more about this collaboration visit: career.ucsf.edu/NSFATE2018 

October 2019

25 Bioscience professionals from Genentech, UCSF, Veracyte, Amunix, Mantra Bio, BABEC, Twist Biosciences, Calithera Biosciences and Bioreuse came to CCSF to share their journeys, expertise and advise with over 30 CCSF Biotechnology students! This was the CCSF Biotechnology Program's 3rd Speed Networking event held for students in Career Exploration (BTEC 15) and the Bioscience Internship Program.

October 2019

Check out our Alumni Profiles to see where CCSF Biotechnology Program alumni are now! New alumni profiles are now available for: Wai Lun Au at Neurona Therapeutics, Alan Gutierrez at Vitalant,  Jennie Huynh at USDA, Joanna Cai at UCSF, Jane Ly at Veracyte, Richard Yan at NALO Therapeutics and Kenneth Wu PhD candidate at UCSC..

September 2019

Fall 2019 courses have begun - but there are still several late start courses enrolling now including ELISA, Mammalian Cell Culture, Analytical PCR & more! Check out CCSF Biotech Late Start Courses for Fall 2019!

July 2019

CCSF Biotechnology students enrolled in BTEC 103 - Protein Purification this summer got to take a field trip to the Pilot Plant at Genentech. They were given a tour of the facilities by Senior Pilot Plant Technician & CCSF Biotech alum, Andrea Cortez!

May 2019

CCSF Bioscience Interns got a chance to tour Genentech & have lunch with members of the Genentech Foundation, sponsors of the CCSF Biotechnology Program and the CCSF Biosymposium.

May 2019

Congratulations to Jacqueline Laurel on winning the CCSF Bioscience Internship poster award at the Spring 2019 CCSF Biosymposium! Jacqueline participated in HIV research investigating overlapping viral genes in the Frankel lab at UCSF. Check out Jaqueline's poster here.

2020 Update: Congrats to Jacqueline for landing a job at CODA Biotherapeutics!

May 2019

Our largest turn out ever!! Over 230 attendees came to the 23rd CCSF Biosymposium at UCSF Mission Bay including 40 CCSF students presenting posters and 55 volunteers from academia, industry and government! Read more about the event here.