沿海地区的土著, Ellen Blackwell and Luciana Custer began their educational journeys at GBCC.
沿海地区的土著, Ellen Blackwell and Luciana Custer began their educational journeys at GBCC. 虽然负担能力, 方便和小班授课吸引了他们来到这所大学, their experiences at GBCC put them on pathways at the cutting edge of the bioengineering field.
Both Ellen and Luciana parlayed their community college education into fellowship and scholarship opportunities as they pursued their education after graduating from GBCC. Life science students at the college have the opportunity to engage in research on campus or in labs at four-year partner institutions. This work is supported by grants from the National Science Foundation’s EPSCoR program to the UNH-led New Hampshire Center for Multiscale Modeling and Manufacturing of Biomaterials (NH BioMade) and the National Institute of 健康’s New Hampshire IDeA Network of Biological Research Excellence (NH-INBRE).
While Luciana (they/them) knew they wanted to do research from the beginning, 旅程的开始对艾伦来说有点不同.
“我从未考虑过生物工程, 但它涵盖了我喜欢的所有不同的科学, 而且这所大学是通勤的，而且真的很实惠,住在埃克塞特的艾伦说. “当我开始的时候, all of my GBCC professors were supportive and helpful in making sure I knew about different research and scholarship opportunities.”
This summer she began a six-month co-op for high-throughput and scale-up lab experiments at Bristol Myers Squibb in Devens, 麻萨诸塞州, 利用自动化机器人平台, and monitoring bioreactors with skills first learned in her Biomanufacturing course in the GBCC lab. Ellen is considering an accelerated master’s program after graduation and would like to focus her career in biopharmaceuticals.
Like Ellen, Luciana’s start at GBCC helped pave the way to exciting opportunities.
“I needed a smaller environment to develop confidence in myself and in my academic skills,露西安娜说, 谁现在住在洛杉矶, 加州. “Great Bay was really important for me at that time in my life when I was struggling with mental health. GBCC是我重新集结的地方.”
Luciana’s personal struggles solidified a desire to help others. 他们从一小步开始, ultimately earning associate degrees in Biotechnology and Bioengineering from GBCC before transferring to the UNH and graduating with a bachelor’s degree in Bioengineering. 在UNH的时候, Luciana worked in the Surface Enhanced Electrochemical Diagnostic Sensors Lab to create novel electrochemical biosensors for disease diagnosis.
Luciana is currently in the first year of a PhD program at the University of Southern 加州 (USC) and has been awarded several 奖学金 in support of continuing their education, 最近获得了美国国家科学基金会研究生研究奖学金, an extremely competitive five-year fellowship that includes three years of financial support totaling $138,000. 作为南加州大学阿玛尼研究实验室的一员, Luciana is testing a novel dye molecule that modulates and reports electrical fields. Their initial work will involve developing a microscope-integrated instrument to optically activate the dye, working with live cells to characterize their bioelectrical activity with high spatiotemporal resolution. The instrument may soon be used by collaborators at the Ellison Institute to study the role of electrical signaling in the migration of glioblastoma, 一种非常严重的脑癌.
The pathway is more than just a career for Luciana; it is a big change in their life and upbringing. 出身于极其平凡的家庭, Luciana is now working at the cutting edge of emerging science that promises to be life-changing for countless numbers of people who will benefit from the groundbreaking work.
事实上，帮助他人是Luciana的共同主题.
“I really love mentoring and it’s fun to interact with new scientists and introduce them to the field,露西安娜说. “I am always trying to help community college students because it is really of important to me to give back to them.”
Luciana is on track to earn a PhD in 2026 in Biomedical Engineering and is considering as a next step working with pharmaceutical companies that specialize in neuropsychiatric work or with labs associated with the National Institute for Mental 健康.
Both Ellen and Luciana credit their success to their start at GBCC, which not only put them on this educational pathway but also opened doors to scholarships, 奖学金, 顺利转入联合国大学继续学业. The two dedicated scientists are poised to contribute greatly to the industry. 无论是人工组织的生长, 工业生物制造, 发展传感器, 或者为神经电成像测试染料, Bioengineering offers a meaningful career in work that can improve lives now and in the future.
