LOWELL — Neil Rosinski spent five years working in the cannabis industry, but over time he felt he needed a change in his career path.
The 30-year-old from Gardner eventually learned about Bioversity, a program that got its start in 2024 with the aim of providing workforce training for jobs in the life sciences field, which Rosinski had no experience in before.
Now, Rosinski and the other students in his cohort are working in a brand new laboratory on the third floor of UMass Lowell’s Massachusetts Medical Device Center at 110 Canal St., thanks in part to a $660,000 grant from the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center that paid for the renovation of the space.
The new lab contains equipment for each cohort of students to train with and run experiments as they learn the ins and outs of working in a laboratory.
Rosinski said he went into the program knowing he would gain foundational skills for working in a lab setting, but he is getting much more out of it than he originally expected.
“What I didn’t expect was getting valuable connections with my classmates and my mentors,” said Rosinski, noting that it also helped build the kinds of skills he can put on a resume.
“I now feel confident that I can apply to any job and I will be seen as a strong candidate,” said Rosinski. “When I graduate Bioversity, I very much look forward to working in the field, hopefully in a lab or manufacturing role.”
Biodiversity was first formed in 2023, and in early 2024 the first of its training laboratories was opened in Boston’s Dorchester neighborhood. Last year it expanded to Lowell, and to date 135 students have graduated from the eight-week Bioversity program, 80% of whom have since been placed in jobs in various local life sciences companies, even with many participants lacking a college degree.
There are currently 26 participants in the Bioversity program on the UML campus.
The program is aimed toward participants who are unemployed or underemployed, MLSC President and CEO Dr. Kirk Taylor said during the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new lab Monday afternoon.
“It is to bring other voices and other people into the life sciences, and Massachusetts is the No. 1 life sciences center in the world, so why not get as many people as possible to participate and really diversify the talent,” said Taylor.
Taylor told The Sun later the students will learn things like microscopy, biospectrometry, pipetting, and other skills that would be useful in life science labs in the region.
“Massachusetts is a center of life sciences here in the country, so there are several companies that look to our students and say, ‘We need talent, we need trained talent to come in and help work on our products,’” said Taylor.
UML Chancellor Julie Chen said the program and new lab are a part of the Lowell Innovation Network Corridor.
“It’s about bringing companies and good jobs to this region, and a big part of that is providing the talent,” said Chen, noting that providing that talent is about more than just the typical degrees offered at institutions like UML.
“It’s about providing the opportunity for everyone in this community to find their career path … finding their way into these great industries and these great jobs no matter where they start from,” said Chen.
MassBio President and CEO Kendalle Burlin O’Connell said the Bioversity program was born out of a need.
“One: we needed more entry-level positions, and two: we were really, really disappointed at the fact that our community out there wasn’t more engaged with the high-paying jobs we have in this industry,” said Burlin O’Connell.
The program was only an idea a few years ago, she said, but since then it has “changed the lives of 135 people.”
“These are folks from our neighborhoods, our community, and from graduation in this eight-week program they now have careers in life sciences. They have more than doubled their salary income from graduating this program,” said Burlin O’Connell.
Bioversity Executive Director Zach Stanley said every student in the last cohort of the program which graduated last fall had secured jobs within one week of graduating.
“We started in Boston, but I think the opportunity here in Lowell is even bigger,” said Stanley. “We have the opportunity to get people from a wider geographic circle to come here for eight weeks who can then go to jobs in an even bigger circle. We’re reaching employers we would have never reached out of Boston.”
Stanley later said to The Sun that some of the companies hiring Bioversity graduates include Ultragenyx, Bristol Meyers Squibb and Flagship Lab Services, among others. While the program was launched in Boston, Stanley said future of expansion of Bioversity “will be all in Lowell.”
“So we’re going to be running more classes and making each class larger,” said Stanley, noting that this plan is contingent on more hiring in the life sciences industry.
Lowell Mayor Erik Gitschier said the city “is committed to working with our community partners to create an ecosystem necessary for companies to succeed in today’s economy.”
“We want companies to thrive in Lowell, to understand that we are committed to working together for the betterment of our community as a whole, to identify resources and strategies to work together so you will be successful,” said Gitschier.