Our core mission
The Center for Bioscience Education and Technology (CBET) is the Rochester region’s hub for customized workforce training and professional-development services in the biosciences. As a complement to RIT’s traditional academic degree programs, CBET serves a broad and diverse population of bioscience workers and others whose professions intersect regularly with the bioscience and health-related fields.
CBET History
In 1999, RIT completed a yearlong study of Western New York’s workforce needs in the field of biotechnology. Surveyed companies reported a need for training and professional development programs for their employees. A lack of local services, the companies said, often forced them to use internal resources to provide training or to send employees out of state. In both cases, the result was a loss of productivity. Survey respondents also identified a pressing need for workshops customized to specific organizational requirements rather than the more common “one size fits all” programs offered elsewhere. RIT responded, and CBET was created to meet these stated needs of the growing bioscience industry in Upstate New York.
Since its inception, CBET has offered a variety of programs in the biotechnology arena, with topics including genomics, biomanufacturing/fermentation processes, bioinformatics, immunology and management of clinical trials. The center is now expanding its offerings to include programs in medical bioscience as well, including imaging technologies (ultrasound and ecocardiography), radiological technology and radiation safety, fitness and exercise science, and anatomical studies.
CBET Services
CBET offers education and training, contract research, and consulting services provided by RIT faculty and outside industry experts. The organization operates on a “fee-for-service” basis separate from RIT’s tuition structure. A person may come to CBET training either through his or her employer, through a professional organization, or individually.
CBET Facilities
CBET’s overarching mission is to support economic growth in Upstate New York by ensuring a well-educated, competitive, and technologically proficient biomedical and bioscience workforce. In 2003, the organization received an $8 million grant from New York State to build a 35,000-square-foot on-campus facility. The heart of the building is the Excellus Blue Cross Blue Shield Center for Bioscience Exploration and Discovery, a suite of laboratories equipped with state-of-the-art technology. This facility will houses both CBET training and workshop activities as well as portions of RIT’s bioscience academic programs. (For more information, see: CBET Facilities)
CBET Customers
Virtually any person whose job touches on the bioscience field may use CBET and its suite of training programs and workshops to enhance his or her professional skills.
Bioscience workers:
Companies can send their employees to CBET trainings in a wide range of industry-specific topics. In certain cases, CBET will offer workshops or training seminars customized to the exact needs of a single company. In addition, CBET offers a certificate program in Basic Biotechnology Skills for Bioprocessing Operations. This program is for individuals who are seeking employment in the biotechnology or biopharmaceutical industries.
Medical and health practitioners:
Physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners and others can gain continuing medical education credits for workshops in topics such as human anatomy, medical informatics and disaster management. CBET workshops are also able to serve the needs of physical therapists, occupational therapists and dieticians.
Medical imaging specialists:
CBET offers workshops, seminars and certificate programs in general ultrasound and echocardiography.
Radiological technologies and Radiation Safety Officers (RSO’s):
Any organization that uses radiation or radioactivity, including hospitals, industry, universities, and even field construction companies, must designate someone as a Radiation Safety Officer. Federal regulations require that all RSOs receive training before they can assume this responsibility, and refresher training every two years thereafter. CBET’s workshops meet these requirements.
Fitness and exercise specialists:
Designed for physical therapists, athletic trainers, and Health/Fitness and Exercise Science instructors, CBET’s workshops and certificate program in Exercise Science (link) provide requirements of the leading certifying institutions and their continuing education standards.
K-12 educators and students:
CBET can offer workshops for high school and middle school teachers to help upgrade skills or to devise new lab exercises for their science classes. Program possibilities for students include evening, weekend, or summer programs aimed at learning more about careers in biotechnology, forensic science, and medicine.
Working professionals:
Many professionals are finding that their work intersects regularly with the fields of bioscience and medicine, and that they need to know more science to do their jobs effectively. These include attorneys and judges who must understand and explain DNA evidence; insurance claims adjusters who daily make decisions about injuries and health-related issues; emergency responders, such as police and firefighters, who may encounter pathogens, radiation or other hazardous substances while responding to a call; and print and broadcast journalists who have a duty to inform the public about often complicated medical treatments, new therapies or scientific breakthroughs. CBET’s professional educators can provide programs for everyone whose job increasingly requires that they know more science.
