The following are excerpts from a story originally published in the Bay State Banner on Thursday, May 9:
To hear it described by newly elected board chair Tamar Thompson, Massachusetts’ booming life sciences sector is now at a moment when many goals once thought unachievable are now in reach.
She pointed to developments like the December approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration of two gene editing therapies for sickle cell disease as markers of an industry shifting from looking at how to treat diseases to how to cure them. Key to meeting this moment, she said, is growing diversity as a central tenet, both in terms of workforce and consumers, with goals around health equity.
“It’s a really exciting time in science to move the needle forward and to make sure that we are completely inclusive on that journey,” said Thompson, who stepped into the top board role at this year’s conference, at which efforts around diversity and the work of leaders of color in the field stood out.
In remarks at the event, the first Black woman to chair the powerful industry association said ensuring the industry’s continuing success will require bold changes.
“Being bold means that we have to advocate for policies that ensure access and equity for patients, whether it’s supporting incentives that drive scientific innovation or just fighting for policies that ensure access to an equitable healthcare system,” said Thompson, who also serves as head of corporate affairs at Alexion Pharmaceuticals.
That work will also mean continuing efforts to diversify the life sciences workforce, where many in the industry say demand for workers is rapidly outpacing the supply.
“Our goal is developing a skilled workforce that reflects the patient populations for which we serve,” Thompson said.
“The talent is here and we need to do a better job connecting them with the skills and the training and the opportunity they need for a career path that’s going to change their lives and their families’ lives for generations to come,” said Zach Stanley, who heads Bioversity, the workforce development initiative founded by the trade association.
Bioversity, which officially launched in January, has had 600 applicants to the program so far — all Black and Latinx — said Stanley. The group’s second cohort of students graduated May 2.
Students in the program are already entering jobs. Stanley said program alumni have found jobs at companies including Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Flagship Lab Services and Foundation Medicine.
The program opened doors in many of the sky-scraping life sciences buildings that Josiah Wade-Green, a Roxbury native and Bioversity graduate, saw as he grew up.
“Being in Bioversity really gave me the spark of life again,” said Wade-Green, who graduated with the group’s first cohort in February and now works as a logistics technician at Abcam. “I felt like life was dull for me, being 23, 24 years old, just working jobs. I wanted a career.”