Yesterday, UCB’s Research Triangle Park (RTP) office hosted ten high school teachers as part of WakeEd’s SummerSTEM immersion program. SummerSTEM is an award-winning, eight-day professional development program to enrich educators’ understanding of the knowledge and skills necessary to succeed in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, & Math) careers. This program is a collaboration between the WakeEd Partnership, the Wake County Public School System, and biotech businesses in North Carolina. 

As part of the program, teachers learn about pharmaceutical manufacturing and clinical development . At UCB, the teachers participated in engaging, hands-on experiences designed to bring real-world lessons to the classroom about topics such as patient-centricity, the clinical-study landscape, and essential knowledge, skills, and competencies for success in the biotech industry. 

At the end of the eight-day program, teachers will develop a project-based learning unit to deliver to students in their classrooms based on their experiences from these sessions. The program culminates with STEMposium in May 2019 where students will present what they have learned as a result of their teachers completing this program. 

"The SummerSTEM program is an important part of enhancing the knowledge for our local educators as well as application of STEM to support the path of future generations into the workforce,” said Christof Jensen, vice president, business excellence and site leader for UCB’s RTP global clinical development office. “UCB is proud to support continuing STEM education in the communities where we live and work.”