LA County Youth Bioscience Summit 2020: Pathways to Success

On Friday, October 9, 2020, the Second District of LA County, held its first Los Angeles County Youth Bioscience Summit. The Summit consisted of panel discussions and interactive lab experiments meant to expose youth to the fields of life sciences. BioscienceLA CEO, Dave Whelan moderated the panel, “Opportunities Beyond the Classroom,” with Joel Espejo (Polypeptide Laboratories, Inc.), Travis Jones (Intuitive BioTechnologies), Nicole Gabrielle Wissemann (Women in Bio) and Debra Hammil (Women in Bio).

“The Youth Bioscience Summit gave a platform to share resources for students to build a career in the life sciences. This event shared valuable information to enrich the next generation of bioscience workers with the expertise, skills and experience needed to thrive in the field,” said Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, who has been a champion of providing opportunities for work and learning in the life sciences and related fields.

The event gave youth, at all levels, an understanding of the growing LA County bioscience landscape, the steps to take advantage of in career pathways, and hear directly from employers on workforce opportunities. While the Summit is just scratching the surface of what bioscience has to offer, the Second District continues to encourage youth to explore and consider what a future in bioscience can look like beyond the Summit.

Other speakers of the event included: Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, Dr. Teresa Ramirez, Laura Bischoff (South Bay Workforce Investment Board), Dr. Terri Quenzer (CA Community Colleges, Life Sciences/Biotech), Dr. Victoria Fox (Pathways to Stem Cell Science), and Dr. Jonli Tunstall (Academic Advancement Program at UCLA). Aria Fulton, BioFlex alum and current first year at Loyola Marymount University, was the master of ceremonies.

You can download the resources that were distributed after the Summit here.