Dr. Linnea Fletcher is a true pioneer at bridging biotech and education. On the show she explains how high school biotech incubators got started and how others can get involved. She also shares more about the upcoming innovATEBIO conference. 

Dr. Fletcher she simultaneously joined the first National Science Foundation-funded National Biotechnology Education Center, Bio-Link, and received her first NSF-funded Advanced Technological Education grant to start Biotechnology high school programs in Texas. In 2015, she received an Emerging Technology Fund grant to build a Bioscience Incubator at ACC and several Wagner Peyser grants to equip it. Today, the incubator is full of start-up companies and students interning or working for these companies.

About innovATEBIO
www.innovATEBIO.org 
InnovATEBIO, the National Biotechnology Education Center funded by NSF (National Science Foundation). The center was funded 4 years ago at 7.5M for 5 years to coordinate over 134 two-year biotechnology programs and their educational
partners for the purpose of creating a biotechnology workforce focusing on technician education. Every senior scientist needs 5 to 7 technicians for R&D, biomanufacturing and quality assurance and regulatory matters. (National Science Board report 2019). At the moment, there is not enough technicians being produced to meet the needs of the US biotechnology industry.

About Dr. Fletcher
https://innovatebio.org/iab-leadership
Dr. Linnea Fletcher enjoys all forms of exercise but especially biking, hiking, and swimming. Her favorite pastimes are family events in the outdoors and travel. She received her Ph.D. in microbiology from the University of Texas at Austin, did two postdocs one at the Southwestern Medical Center and another in the Biochemistry Department at the University of Texas. She joined Austin Community College as a Department Chair in Biology and started the Biotechnology Program in 1999. At the same time, she joined the first NSF Funded National Biotechnology Education Center, Bio-Link and received her first NSF funded ATE grant to start Biotechnology high school programs in Texas. She worked as an NSF Program Officer from
2008 to 2010 and was involved setting up the first Vision and Change Meeting. Once back on the job as Biotechnology Department Chair in 2015, she received an Emerging Technology Fund Grant to build a Bioscience Incubator at ACC and several additional grants to equip it. Today the incubator is full of startup companies and students interning or working for these companies. She was PI of the AC2 Bio-Link Regional Center, and is now the PI of InnovATEBIO, the NSF funded National Biotechnology Center. Combining economic development with educational opportunities is her passion. She is also PI and Co-PI on several other grants associated with the work of the center. Linnea Fletcher believes the best way to engage educate students is to involve them in industry projects from high school on –and show them that their education has a purpose and matters—involvement in startup companies does this!

Qualio website:
https://www.qualio.com/

Previous episodes:
https://www.qualio.com/from-lab-to-launch-podcast

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Music by keldez