The Californer - Cal State LA awarded Amgen Foundation grant to boost careers in bioentrepreneurship

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LOS ANGELES - Californer -- Cal State LA has received a $100,000 grant from the Amgen Foundation to establish the community education component of the Cal State LA BioSpace incubator, which is leading the university's efforts to promote a thriving bioscience ecosystem in the heart of Los Angeles.

Cal State LA BioSpace will partner with the California Community Colleges Statewide Offices of Life Sciences/Biotech and Business & Entrepreneurship, in order to educate and inspire women and ethnically diverse community college students to pursue leadership careers in biotechnology through bioentrepreneurship.

"The goal is to give students insight into the biotechnology industry as well as to provide them with the necessary tools to create innovative business plans and launch early-stage startups," said Howard Xu, director of incubator development and programming and professor of microbiology at Cal State LA.

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Funded by the Amgen Foundation, the main philanthropic arm of the global biotech Amgen, the online bioentrepreneurship training program will enhance the existing curriculum at Los Angeles Trade Technical College, Los Angeles Pierce College, and Rio Hondo College.

"Reflecting the foundation's mission, this project aims to advance excellence in science education and inspire the next generation of innovators," Xu added.

The Cal State LA BioSpace initiative (https://labiospace.calstatela.edu/) was created to address critical shortages of bioscience entrepreneurs and of lab space for startup companies, and promote the bioscience industry in Los Angeles. The incubator, housed in the university's Rongxiang Xu Bioscience Innovation Center, is developed by grants from Los Angeles County and the U.S. Economic Development Administration.