Los Angeles Bioscience Project (LAB-PRO)

East Los Angeles College (ELAC), a California community college--in partnership with California State University, Los Angeles (CSLA), a comprehensive public university; two public high schools, Wilson High School and Roosevelt High School; four bioscience companies; and the Southern California Biomedical Council (an association of bioscience companies)--has created the Los Angeles Bioscience Project (LAB-Pro) to achieve two complementary and much-needed goals: to help provide direction and career opportunities for minority community college students, many of whom never complete their studies, and to help meet the employment needs of the booming bioscience industry, which has more openings than it can fill with qualified personnel. LAB-Pro has been designed as a multifaceted program that is achieving its goals in three primary ways. First, it is preparing high school and community college students for technical careers in bioscience by exposing them to career opportunities in the field and giving them the skills and practical experience needed to succeed in a highly demanded career. In addition, it is enhancing the knowledge of high school science teachers and community college instructors in bioscience. Finally, it is establishing a pipeline of qualified bioscience technicians, primarily from underrepresented minority groups, to fill the numerous jobs available within the growing bioscience field in Southern California. The eighteen month project directly impacts a minimum of 20 community college students and 24 senior high school students, and indirectly impact many more. ***