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A lot of times, people think of life-science workers as some nerds in white lab coats enthralled with Petri dishes and gaseous vials of God-knows-what simmering on Bunsen burners.

Of course, that's a stereotype and one that regional educators, employers and professionals are actively working to erase. They have a plan as to how to accomplish this and to enlightened people about the plethora of job opportunities available in life sciences.

The cornerstone was announced Tuesday by the Genesee County Economic Development Center. It's dubbed "iSciWNY," a collaborative effort out of the University of New York at Buffalo.

Touted as a "comprehensive life-sciences workforce development program," it's designed to prepare Western New Yorkers -- not just scientists -- for new positions in the region’s growing life-sciences industry.

Its funded in part by the Genesee County Economic Development Center (GCEDC) through a workforce development grant by the NYS Department of Labor (DOL).

iSciWNY uses its Web site, workshops, training programs and popular Career Pathways kit to demystify the life-sciences industry for Western New Yorkers and prepare them for jobs, whether they’re high school students looking for their first job or established professionals looking for a new challenge.

Through the DOL grant, the GCEDC was able to provide funding for Web site development as well as money to train nearly 50 teachers in Genesee, Livingston, Orleans, Wyoming, Monroe and Steuben counties. Funding and support was also provided to Genesee Community College (GCC) for two summer programs that trained 80 regional students in life sciences. Those students also earned seven college credits upon completion.

iSciWNY is available at no charge to Western New York organizations and individuals. According to Marnie LaVigne, Ph.D. -- director of business development at UB’s Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences, and co-developer of iSciWNY -- many regional residents are unaware of the extraordinary diversity of the life-sciences industry here.

This includes companies that develop and test everything from powerful, new drugs and innovative medical devices to computational tools and new research and development methods.

“The iSciWNY slogan, ‘Stay here, go far,’ means that thanks to our growing life-sciences industry, Western New Yorkers can stay here and find successful careers in many more fields than the typical laboratory position people picture,” she said.

“It is incredibly rewarding to be involved in a career with great opportunities at all levels, in technical and nontechnical jobs that offer professional advancement, while helping people live better, healthier lives through innovative products and services.”

GCEDC’s President and CEO Steven G Hyde explained how iSciWNY has been launched and piloted in the GLOW region.

“We have had great collaboration with our local partners including GCC, the Business Education Alliance and Genesee Valley BOCES, along with the 22 school districts it serves. With our grant dollars, we were able to hire John Jakubowski, a well-known local educator, to implement iSciWNY materials into our schools and he’s done an excellent job.”

According to its developers at the UB Center of Excellence and the Educational Opportunity Center, iSciWNY is a unique program nationally because of the way it addresses workforce development needs.

“iSciWNY creates a pipeline approach,” says LaVigne. “It links all the organizations that need to be involved to develop a skilled workforce – whether through advising, educating training or employment – with the community-at-large.”

She added that other regions statewide and across the nation have expressed interest in using isciWNY as a model.

For more information, please visit  HYPERLINK "http://www.isciwny.com" http://www.isciwny.com

This information stems from a GCEDC press release.