2025 NIIMBL Cohort Visits the RNA Institute
The RNA Institute welcomed the 2025 National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals (NIIMBL) eXperience cohort on June 3rd, 2025. The 15 NIIMBL eXperience students attended were hosted in the RNA Institute and Department of Biological Sciences for a day of STEM career exploration with hands-on science experience to introduce the students to biomanufacturing and biomedical research pathways.
Dr. Tom Begley, Associate Director of the RNA institute hosted the group and moderated a Graduate Studies and Career Roundtable to kick off the day. RNA institute members served as panelists to share their personal journey through graduate school and into careers in academia, research, and science communications. The panelists include Dr. John Cleary (Assistant Director of Research), Dr. Soma Dash (Assistant Professor), Dr. Arun Richard Chandrasekaran (Senior Research Scientist), Dr. Sangeetha Selvam (Science Communications Specialist), and Humphrey Omeoga (RNA Fellow and PhD Candidate, Begley lab). The panel answered questions ranging from their choice and application process to graduate school, value of lab experience, mentor-mentee relationships, including advice they received as trainees.
After the panel, the students participated in a hands-on bacterial DNA extraction lab led by Andrew Munoz Gamba (RNA Fellow and PhD candidate, Pager lab), where they explored the fundamentals of DNA isolation, a critical step in biomanufacturing. The experiment included the three key steps including cell lysis, heat treatment, and precipitation, to extract a visible spool of DNA.
Dr. Begley shares, “The 2025 NIIMBL cohort was an impressive group of undergraduate students from around the country, and the RNA institute was excited to host them for a STEM-focused career roundtable. Our institute members highlighted the path to graduate school and talked about careers in biomedicine and industry, and they expertly fielded many insightful questions from the students. The RNA institute prioritizes training the next generation of RNA scientists, technologists, and engineers and we look forward to further interactions with those students’ pursuing careers in biomanufacturing.”