PRiME's Industry-Partnered Fellowship Program Launches With COVID-19 Projects

Many trainees working with PRiME faculty pursue careers in the life-sciences sector and value collaborating with industry. To create internships with industry partners, a new Fellowship Program launched in July, leveraging Mitacs Programs funding to help graduate students and postdoctoral fellows work with industry partners. The first two fellowships were enabled through Mitacs' COVID-19 response.

PRiME connected faculty with companies pivoting to address COVID-19. One project involved Cellular Analytics, which adapted its microfluidic platform from cancer-biomarker detection to identify cell populations for COVID-19 patient stratification. A second collaboration with OptiSolve adapted imaging-based analysis to detect SARS-CoV-2 on surfaces in a handheld device.

While these projects addressed immediate pandemic needs, additional non-COVID-19 projects were under review for longer-term trainee involvement. PRiME anticipated expanding the program given the biotechnology and diagnostics startups in the local ecosystem.