WET LAB AND STARTUP BUSINESS INCUBATOR

STUDENT SUCCESSES! WITH MAURICIO TELLEZ & MARCIA MCCALLUM

Student Success! Science in the Mall, Y'all-Season 2 Dear Friends, We are excited to be launching Season 2 of ‘Science in the Mall, Y’all’. In our previous episodes, we have highlighted some of the companies here at the ACC Bioscience Incubator and the varied and impressive problems they are tackling, and some of our extended network that were going above and beyond to address the pandemic. This season we really want to show off the students that we have worked with here at ABI. We depend heavily on the help of ACC students to keep this place going and have had the honor of working with some pretty impressive people. In this first series, we sit down with 2 of the first students we hired and spend some time getting to know them. These students have both been through the Biotechnology program here at ACC, both have all done internships at the Incubator and have gone off and gotten jobs in the community. What we really want to convey in this series is the fact that it’s their unique personalities, interests and experiences that has led them to different career paths within the life sciences. After taking some time to get to know them, we meet again with each of them with their current employers and hear about what it was about that employer that attracted them to their current job, and what about that person got them hired into that position. The conversations also dissect some of the typical titles you might encounter and how that translates into what the day to day looks like. We are excited to kick it off with Marcia McCallum and Mauricio Tellez. You might remember Marcia from our Grand Opening, where she gave a speech about her journey towards a college degree. She is also featured in our very first episode of Science in the Mall, Y’all with me. I never get tired of watching her grow and so, hearing about how she is excelling in her current position at XBiotech is really a treat. Mauricio started his involvement at ACC back when he was in high school and in the Biotechnology dual credit program. He has since helped us keep ABI running, worked on projects with ABI companies, mentored other students, taught a workshop or 2, graduated from a competitive Clinical Lab Science program, passed the licensing exam and secured a position using his degree for detecting leukemias. Listen to them as they are back together and beaming about how awesome each other is and being impressed at their respective career successes. I can’t imagine not being charmed and engaged. If that doesn’t do it for you, then hang tight for subsequent episodes with Mauricio and Dr. Rodney Rohde, who leads the Clinical Lab Science program at Texas State University, as well as Marcia with David Medina, Manager, Upstream Manufacturing at XBiotech. We are excited to highlight these excellent students and see where they are now.  Nancy LyonDirector

Everlum was founded in part by the father of a 6 year old girl with a devastating rare disease. Casey McPherson, in an effort to find a cure for his daughter, created the foundation

To Cure a Rose

. Casey and his network of parents in his situation learned quickly that big pharma is not going to expend the necessary resources to develop cures for these very rare diseases. He also found some equally passionate partners, Rick Barkley and Rodney Bowling to launch a company that will not only work at ABI to learn more about Rose’s disease, but to also give hope and help to parents of kids with similar rare diseases. We are excited to have them here at the Incubator and look forward to helping them make progress. 

Join ABI

ACC Bioscience Incubator companies are centered in the life sciences. Even though ABI is part of Austin Community College, any company can apply.

TAKE A VIRTUAL TOUR OF THE BIOSCIENCE INCUBATORWe are so proud of this virtual tour that our friends at ACC TV and ACC Marketing made for us. Come inside and look around!

After years of construction and delayed revelation, ACC celebrated the completion of the next phase of the magnificent Highland Campus. There was a 2 day celebration that invited the community to come for themselves what they can learn at ACC. I encourage everyone to come over and explore this resource that belongs to all of us!

ABI & partners launch a consortium to support innovators fighting COVID-19 and future pandemics

The Texas Global Health Security Innovation Consortium (TEXGHS) is a consortium between academia, public sector, and private sector partners to coordinate efforts to support companies working towards pandemic preparedness and response in Texas.

Visit texghs.org for more information.

ABI Member Companies