Blended Learning for Training of Cell Therapy Manufacturing Personnel

The goal of this project is to create an online course on the fundamentals of cell therapy manufacturing that is coupled to a companion hands-on training component.

Industry Need

Given the clinical successes and recent licensing approvals of CAR-T cell therapy products, there is a growing need for a well-trained workforce to deliver these lifesaving therapies. Currently, there are few, if any, formal training programs for cell therapy manufacturing and training of individuals in the basics is carried out on an ad hoc basis by company subject matter experts when need arises.

Approach

The solution is a creation of an online course on the fundamentals of cell therapy manufacturing that is coupled to a companion hands-on training component. The development of an online resource that teaches important fundamental concepts, which is also tied into a hands-on training component, accelerates the training of all levels of the cell therapy manufacturing workforce and decreases the resources required to bring new hires up to speed. Additionally, this type of blended learning environment modernizes learning such that the online component of the training will “immortalize” concepts so that they are available on demand, either to train individuals as they are hired or to review important concepts as needed.

Publications

Barone, P. W. & Keumurian, F. J., Online Education As a Tool to Expand Biomanufacturing Awareness, NIIMBL National Meeting, Washington, DC, July 26, 2022.

Barone, P. W. &. R., M., Scalable Education & Training to Grow, NIIMBL National Meeting, Washington, DC, June 28, 2019.

Van Vliet, K., Hodge, G., Duguid, J., Vega, H., Barone, P. W., & Rolle, M., Scalable Education & Training to Grow the Cell Therapy Manufacturing Workforce, NIIMBL National Meeting, Washington, DC, June 28, 2019.

Van Vliet, K., Presenter, PC1.0-7: Scalable education & training to grow the cell therapy manufacturing workforce, NIIMBL National Meeting, Washington, D.C., July 27, 2022.

Van Vliet, K., Scalable Education & Training to Grow the Cell Therapy Manufacturing Workforce, NIIMBL Member Forum, Virtual, October 22, 2020.

Yang, M., Keumurian, F., Neufeld, C., Skrip, E., Duguid, J., Vega-Mercado, H., Rao, R., Rolle, M., Springs, S., Wolfrum, J., Barone, P., & Van Vliet, K. (2024). Upskilling the cell therapy manufacturing workforce: design, implementation, and evaluation of a massive open online course. Advances in Physiology Education. https://doi.org/10.1152/advan.00077.2023

Impacts

This project will create a formalized training program to help individuals transition from traditional biotechnology fields to cell therapy development and manufacturing.

First-of-its-kind modernized blended learning environment with online, self-paced learning coupled with periodic hands-on training for cell therapy manufacturing.