Dr. Loren Limberis, an associate professor in ECU’s Department of Engineering and the director of the Eastern Region Pharma Center, stands in one of the labs of the new Life Sciences and Biotechnology Building. He said the center will play an important role in promoting workforce development in the pharmaceutical industry as part of the Build Back Better grant award.
ECU’s new Life Sciences and Biotechnology Building will house the Eastern Region Pharma Center.
Dr. Kerianne Crockett received the attorney general’s Dogwood Award for her advocacy for the rights of incarcerated pregnant and postpartum women.
The North Carolina Biotechnology Center and a statewide coalition of public and private partner organizations and institutions that includes East Carolina University are a Phase 1 recipient of up to $500,000 in the U.S. Economic Development Administration’s $1 billion Build Back Better Regional Challenge.
The coalition proposes to create a national life sciences manufacturing resource while advancing production technology and addressing vulnerabilities in the region’s supply chain and manufacturing capacity that were highlighted during the coronavirus pandemic.
The project will bring together four universities in a unique product development and manufacturing partnership; create new training hubs by uniting existing efforts of community colleges and universities, including historically Black colleges and universities; proactively prepare sites suitable for life sciences facilities in distressed areas; and leverage current and planned community programs to support those transitioning to these jobs.
The Eastern Region Pharma Center (ERPC) in ECU’s new Life Sciences and Biotechnology Building will play an important role in the project, said Dr. Loren Limberis, an ECU engineering associate professor in the College of Engineering and Technology and the director of the center.
The ERPC, now in development with funding from the Golden LEAF Foundation and ECU, is working with five regional community colleges and 15 pharmaceutical companies to promote workforce development to meet industry demand in the BioPharma Crescent, a five-county area that includes Pitt County and already has 10,000 life sciences manufacturing jobs.
The grant uses the ERPC framework and would expand its programming to additional counties and community colleges, providing an opportunity to educate students and train workers for high-paying jobs in the pharmaceutical industry.
Limberis also said the ERPC can support pharmaceutical companies with pilot scale manufacturing capabilities that emphasize future industry needs such as continuous biomanufacturing processes, single-use technologies, manufacturing of cell or gene therapeutics and implementation of Pharma 4.0 technology, which is adapting digital strategies to pharmaceutical manufacturing.
The NCBiotech-led consortium was one of only 60 chosen from a field of 529 applicants for Phase 1 funds that will be used to further develop proposals to implement a collection of three to eight distinct, but related, regional projects. The proposals needed to include coordination of industry and community partners and be aligned with a holistic vision to build and scale a strategic industry sector.
Phase 1 recipients advance to Phase 2 of the challenge, in which 20-30 projects will be selected to receive up to $100 million in American Rescue Plan funding.
The project is called “Accelerating Life Science Manufacturing to Create Economic Resilience and Promote Equity in Distressed North Carolina Communities.” It is designed to help expand, connect, scale and promote life sciences manufacturing to heighten the transformation of North Carolina’s economy and its communities.
The partners in the effort include North Carolina Central University and a collaborative of other HBCUs in the state; the N.C. Community College System and a network of its community colleges; First Flight Venture Center; some of the state’s leading life sciences research universities including ECU and the University of North Carolina Wilmington; and the N.C. Department of Commerce.
Doctor honored for women’s rights advocacy
A faculty member and obstetrician in the Brody School of Medicine at ECU and Vidant Health has been honored for her efforts to pass legislation that, among other directives, limits the use of shackles during labor and delivery for incarcerated women.
Dr. Kerianne Crockett, clinical assistant professor and OB-GYN, was one of 36 recipients of the 2021 Attorney General’s Dogwood Award. N.C. Attorney General Josh Stein announced the winners of the annual award that honors North Carolinians who work to keep people safe, healthy and happy in their communities.
Crockett pushed for legislation — House Bill 608, which became law last fall — alongside the North Carolina Obstetrical and Gynecological Society, contacting sheriffs across the state and advocating for pregnant women in jails and prisons.
In 2019, Crockett had a patient who was brought in from a local jail. She said the woman had ankle and wrist restraints, and deputies accompanying the patient would not remove them during labor and delivery, citing policy. Crockett witnessed the mother’s grief after the baby did not survive, and the experience spurred Crockett into action.
The new law not only significantly limits the use of shackles from the second trimester of pregnancy until six weeks postpartum, but also includes provisions related to nutrition, access to menstrual products, and the facilitation of bonding and visitation with children.
“For years, North Carolina was in a minority of states that allowed pregnant women in jails and prisons to be shackled, putting women and their unborn children in grave danger,” said Stein. “Because of Dr. Crockett’s leadership and advocacy, as well as the recommendations from groups including our Task Force for Racial Equity in Criminal Justice, that is no longer the case. Now, women who are incarcerated will get the reproductive health care they need with dignity, which is their right. Dr. Crockett spoke up for these women, and in doing so, helped protect their and their children’s lives.”
Crockett’s journey to get the legislation passed was both rewarding and challenging as she navigated politics and professional commitment to what she believes is right. In the end, she played a part in bringing stakeholders from across the political spectrum together to agree on the legislation.
“Being in such close proximity to the legislative process was interesting and inspiring in some ways, frustrating in others. Overall, the whole thing has been pretty life altering,” she said.
The Dogwood Award honors Crockett’s efforts and her professional characteristics that also align with the missions of ECU and Vidant.
Contact jstorm@reflector.com or 252-329-9587.
