Quest: WorkReady Philadelphia launches biotech training program for students

Thomas Jefferson University students in the labs of the Bioscience Technologies Department. Jefferson students will act as mentors to Quest participants. Photo courtesy of Philadelphia Youth Network.

WorkReady Philadelphia, along with a handful of local partners, wants to get high school students excited about one of the fastest growing industries in the country: biotechnology.

This month, the workforce prep organization is launching Quest, a biotechnology training program for 25 high school juniors. Funded by GlaxoSmithKline and and the Philadelphia Foundation, the program will train students in the field, connect them with college student mentors from Thomas Jefferson University and offer professional experience in the form of a six-week internship at the University City Science Center.

The program was created in part as a response to the expected growth of the biotech industry. It’s is expected to grow 31 percent from 2010 to 2020, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, as referenced in a Quest release.

The pilot program, run by Philadelphia Academies, will last until the end of August and will focus on students at Roxborough and Lincoln High Schools.