The Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology is renowned for its interdisciplinary research that spans various departments across the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. A new program, supported by Mark Tracy, will focus on cultivating interdisciplinary thinking among undergraduate students and preparing them for industry careers.

The program, called the Tracy Undergraduate Team Science Training Program, was launched on September 19th. It is designed to incorporate case studies, active learning, and panel discussions that will draw from the 15 interdisciplinary research themes at the IGB. The workshops will be led by industry professionals and will provide internship opportunities for the students. They will also earn a certificate at the end of the course. The funding provided by Tracy, founder and president of Tracy BioConsulting, LLC, will support the program for two years.

Tracy graduated with a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Illinois and went on to earn a PhD in chemistry at Stanford University. He then pursued a research career in the biotechnology industry that included developing novel therapeutics, most recently leading to the development of RNA-based medicines and COVID vaccines.

“I was drawn to the IGB because the research had so many dimensions to it. I also attended a World of Genomics exhibit in Chicago, and I thought that IGB’s communications with the non-academic world was particularly effective,” Tracy said.  

Previously, Tracy had provided funding for the Mark Tracy Undergraduate Translational Research Fellowship, which afforded undergraduate students with the opportunity to participate in innovative research with direct applications to the biotechnology industry.  

“I wanted to focus on undergraduates for two reasons: there aren’t many programs that cater to them and the earlier you introduce them to new career options, the more open they will be,” Tracy said. “Hopefully, this course will give the students an edge after they graduate.”

Tracy also believes that the program will encourage students to work across traditional boundaries in academia and help prepare them for careers in industry. “Research problems have become increasingly complex over time. Instead of organic chemists collaborating with physical chemists, we now have chemists, biologists, engineers, physicians, and many others all working together,” Tracy said. “These disciplines have very different languages and approaches to solving problems, and it is important to learn how to communicate with people from different backgrounds.”