What do you wear to a job interview at a biotechnology company? How should your resume be formatted? What questions do you ask to ensure the role is a good fit?

“My mentor guided me through job applications, including helping me identify the things that were important to me in a job,” says Jazmin Santiesteban. “While we were talking about those things, she asked if I would be interested in applying to Promega.”

Jazmin received the D.O.O.R.S. Scholarship in 2021, before her senior year at Lawrence University. That scholarship program helped Jazmin develop new skills and cultivate connections that eventually led her to a job at Promega after graduation.

“I love it so far,” she says. “I don’t know where my career may take me, but right now I want to build a longer future at Promega.”

“We are a company that is built upon innovation, and R&D is one of the main drivers of that,” says Frank Fan, Director of Biology at Promega.

Promega Research and Development is focused on developing reliable tools that address the biggest problems facing life scientists. However, our R&D scientists do much more than just develop products. Promega scientists regularly pursue basic research to curate new skills and knowledge and collaborate extensively with researchers across academia and industry. This work fuels major advancements in areas like targeted genome editing, drug discovery, and genetic identity.

In June 2023, our Research and Development department gathered to recognize Promega scientists who have published peer-reviewed papers or patents. This was the first time the department had held this event since 2019, and in that time 71 scientists have published research in journals like Nature and Cell. 16 of those scientists published 10 or more times, and several were also invited to contribute review articles and book chapters.

In addition, Promega also recognized seven researchers with the title “Distinguished Scientist.” This award was intended to recognize scientists who are at the top of their game in both advancing and communicating science. Their work includes protein engineering, chemical biology, neuroscience and much more.

The Distinguished Scientists were selected for having an i10 index above 25 since 2018. This indicates that the scientist has more than 25 publications that have been cited 10+ times in the past five years, as measured by Google Scholar. As VP of R&D Poncho Meisenheimer said, “This award is truly from the scientific community. This is a recognition that your scientific peers see your work as valuable.”

Here is the list of Promega researchers recognized as Distinguished Scientists and some of their recent high-impact papers.

In 2021, we unveiled our most ambitious sustainability goals ever. These goals include a 50% reduction in carbon emissions by 2030, as indexed to revenue over a 2019 baseline.

In 2022, we announced that renewable sources provided over 20% of our global electricity usage.

This year, Promega is excited to announce that we’re committing to 100% renewable electricity by 2025.

Earth Day 2023 is past, but protecting our environment and natural resources is important every day of the year.

As a company, Promega has set ambitious goals for reducing our carbon emissions, plastic waste and water usage by 2030. We design each new building to surpass the sustainability features of all previous facilities. Our culinary garden employs techniques that are beneficial to the ecosystem, from enriching the soil to supporting local wildlife. In fact, over 225 acres of our 400-acre Madison campus is dedicated to preserved prairie, wetlands and woodlands.

Promega employees are also dedicated to reducing their impact on the natural world. This month, a series of employee-hosted Earth Month events gave Madison-based Promega employees the opportunity to test-drive electric cars, trade plants and learn about sustainable lawncare. Here are a few highlights from Earth Month 2023 at Promega.

The Biotechnology Youth Apprenticeship Program hosted by the BTC Institute gives high school students an opportunity to gain hands-on experience in a research lab. Students can work as paid apprentices for either one or two years while also attending weekly training sessions at the BioPharmaceutical Technology Center. Through this program, students can graduate high school with robust knowledge of lab safety and fundamental techniques, as well as a strong understanding of the soft skills required to succeed in science, from reading peer-reviewed literature to delivering a research presentation.

Many of these students will grow up to pursue careers in science, from academic research labs to the biotechnology industry. Some of them have returned to Fitchburg to work at Promega, the primary corporate sponsor of BTC Institute. As these scientists progress in their careers, the skills they developed in the Youth Apprenticeship Program continue to support their work every day.

“It was just a sea of Promega everywhere,” says Rebecca Roberts, a Promega Field Applications Scientist. “Floor to ceiling, piled up with Maxwell instruments, Maxprep Liquid Handlers, all the accessories and consumables…”

In her role on the Field Application Scientists team, Rebecca travels the United States installing the Maxprep Liquid Handler in customer labs and training scientists to operate the system and incorporate it into their workflow. This instrument automates the pre- and post-processing steps in a nucleic acid purification workflow. It’s a large and sophisticated instrument that takes up roughly four feet of lab bench space and weighs up to 220 pounds. It is intended for research use only, but during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Maxprep Liquid Handler, Maxwell RSC 48 Instrument, and several Maxwell purification kits were recommended for nucleic acid extraction protocols in the CDC 2019-Novel Coronavirus Real-Time RT-PCR Diagnostic Panel Emergency Use Authorization (EUA).  

When an instrument is sold, Rebecca and a Service Engineer spend three days on-site installing it and training a small group of staff to use it. One Maxprep instrument at a time is typical. On rare occasions, Rebecca might install two on a single trip. However, in 2022, Rebecca joined a multinational team of Promega scientists and engineers in Kigali, Rwanda for an order that was anything but typical.

“We knew a large order from this customer was a possibility,” Rebecca says, “But I certainly wasn’t expecting an order of ten.”

This was the largest installation of Maxprep instruments Promega has ever seen from a single order. The customer also had a hard deadline that required delivery, installation and training to be complete in only six weeks – half the time usually quoted for a single instrument.

In the end, ten Maxprep instruments were installed at the National Reference Laboratory in Kigali, and more than twenty people were trained to use the systems for RNA extraction to support COVID-19 testing at a major international meeting. The order was a success, but that six week journey was a wild ride that depended on the hard work and dedication of Promega teams on both sides of the Atlantic.

And the impact of this work is still growing.