Building Biotech: MCPHS Hosts Immersive Workshop for Leaders of Startups

The two-day event brings together industry and higher education.

It was a landmark week for Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (MCPHS) as the University strengthened its position as a global healthcare leader, hosting a group of South Korean biotechnology leaders for a two-day accelerated workshop covering innovation, discovery, and entrepreneurship.

Under the leadership of Stephen Kerr, PhD, Associate Provost for International Affairs, Frederick Frankhauser, Chair of the Department of Pharmaceutical Business & Administrative Sciences, and Carol Lauer, Dean of the School of Professional Studies (SPS), the workshop was the first in-person professional education workshop for executives trying to establish a base in Boston’s biotech cluster. The workshop also bolstered the collaboration between the University and the Korean Evaluation Institute of Industrial Technology (KEIT), which partnered with MCPHS in April when the formal agreement, a memorandum of understanding, was signed.

KEIT is a government-affiliated organization in South Korea. The partnership focuses on research and development to position South Korea as an innovator in the biotech sector and to strengthen ties with the United States.

Titled “Essentials of U.S. Biotechnology,” the workshop, held Oct. 2-3, was organized by SPS, which has long worked with pharmaceutical and life sciences companies to develop top talent in regulatory affairs and other functions. Companies send cohorts of people through the University’s certificate programs, which support employee development and retention.

At the end of the second day of the workshop, the participants were all smiles, exchanging handshakes as they received certificates of completion.