Event Highlights

Project Onramp Kickoff

Framingham State University

Project Onramp was conceived by David Lucchino, past chair of MassBio and co-founder and CEO of Frequency Therapeutics. At our kickoff event Jan. 29, 2019 at Framingham State University, David spoke about the need for Project Onramp and what he hopes the program will accomplish.

The Kickoff

Internship Boot Camp

The Internship Boot Camp gave our new scholars the tools to adapt to the corporate environment and thrive in new roles. Along with exercises, role-playing, skits, and one-on-one training, the Boot Camp was also about being inspired. That job fell to Bill Chin, chief medical officer of Frequency Therapeutics of Woburn, a pioneer in the use of regenerative medicine to treat hearing loss.

Chin spent a long career in biopharma as an academic at Harvard Medical School, an executive at Eli Lilly and Company, and an industry leader at the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, a trade group. Instead of regaling our students with the highlights of his career, he spoke about his days growing up in New York City, where his parents, immigrants from China, ran a laundry in Manhattan.

“I remember waking up to the whoosh! of the steam press,” said Chin, who worked in the front of the store dealing with customers. “We never took a vacation. I didn’t know what a vacation was.”

Chin had an early stroke of luck: the laundry was right next to a branch of the New York Public Library. Books from that library convinced Chin that he wanted to work in science.

Noting how much is still unknown in the world of science, Chin left the students with this quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson, the 19th century poet and philosopher. “Curiosity is lying in wait for every secret,” said Chin

Project Onramp is ready to break down barriers and speed students from low-income backgrounds to success—while helping our member companies build the statewide labor pool and boost diversity.

Commit to diversifying your internship talent pipeline!

  • PROGRAM CONTACT:
  • Lila Neel
  • lila@lifesciencecares.org

Learn about sponsoring internships:

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