BioTrain fellows work to advance biopharmaceutical manufacturing workforce in Indianapolis

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — A select group of Purdue University engineering and pharmacy graduate students are advancing Indiana’s biopharmaceutical workforce training opportunities through the BioTrain Fellows program.

Co-developed with Heartland BioWorks, BioCrossroads and Ivy Tech Community College, the BioTrain Fellows program is a part of Heartland BioWorks, a U.S. Economic Development Administration-funded Tech Hub, and its BioTrain initiative to grow the biomanufacturing workforce and strengthen Indiana’s talent pipeline for high-paying jobs in biotechnology and biomanufacturing. Selection of the first fellows is also an important milestone for Purdue’s One Health strategic initiative.

“The BioTrain Fellows program at Purdue attracts and trains top-notch talent on future pharmaceutical manufacturing technologies,” said Alina Alexeenko, the Reilly Professor in Aeronautics and Astronautics and Chemical Engineering in the College of Engineering. “The specialized training and curriculum development in this program will increase Indiana’s pharmaceutical manufacturing talent pool, which is very much in demand by industry.”

The seven newly named fellows, all Purdue graduate students, will gain hands-on training and teaching experience in pharmaceutical manufacturing over three semesters. In addition to earning pharmaceutical manufacturing certificates, fellows will create training programs for other students and industry professionals. The programs will take place at Ivy Tech and at the Heartland BioWorks Tech Hub training facility in Indianapolis, using its state-of-the-art equipment.

“I know the other fellows and I are excited for this opportunity to apply our unique academic and industrial backgrounds toward strengthening Indiana’s growing pharmaceutical workforce, while gaining critical experience in teaching, student mentorship and communication,” said Nathaniel Michael, a chemical engineering graduate research assistant and a new BioTrain fellow. “By bringing together industry partners, leading researchers and students, this program is helping to build the high-skilled state workforce of the future.”

“This is an important milestone under Purdue’s One Health initiative,” Alexeenko added. “Through academic programs, research, facility infrastructure and industry partnerships, Purdue researchers tackle complex challenges to improve health outcomes and drive economic growth here in Indiana and beyond.”

Alexeenko also is the co-founder and co-director of LyoHUB, a university-industry center that improves freeze-drying technology to make food, pharmaceuticals and biotech products safer and more affordable. She also is a member of the William D. and Sherry L. Young Institute for Advanced Manufacturing of Pharmaceuticals, which aims to revolutionize pharmaceutical manufacturing while making medicines more accessible, affordable and widely available. 

The BioTrain Fellows program is in partnership with Purdue’s College of Pharmacy and Davidson School of Chemical Engineering.

In addition to Michael, the other six fellows are: Carly Clisham (chemistry), James Funk (industrial and molecular pharmaceutics), Anael Kimble (food science), Sanjana Muniraj (biomedical engineering), Yirang Park (chemical engineering) and Isabella Perez Mejia (industrial and molecular pharmaceutics).

Students and midcareer professionals interested in attending upcoming sessions on advanced biopharmaceutical manufacturing can receive program details and registration information by emailing BioTrain@purdue.edu.

About Purdue University

Purdue University is a public research university leading with excellence at scale. Ranked among top 10 public universities in the United States, Purdue discovers, disseminates and deploys knowledge with a quality and at a scale second to none. More than 107,000 students study at Purdue across multiple campuses, locations and modalities, including more than 58,000 at our main campus locations in West Lafayette and Indianapolis. Committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdue’s main campus has frozen tuition 14 years in a row. See how Purdue never stops in the persistent pursuit of the next giant leap — including its integrated, comprehensive Indianapolis urban expansion; the Mitch Daniels School of Business; Purdue Computes; and the One Health initiative — at https://www.purdue.edu/president/strategic-initiatives.