When Dr. Rebecca Miles retired from her 25-year career in pharmaceutical research at Eli Lilly, she refocused her passion for science on a new challenge. Having worked her way from the bench to Senior Director, she knew first-hand the technical skills required to successfully advance genetic medicine programs. Now, she leverages her industry experience and the latest technologies at Taylor University, a liberal arts institution in Indiana known for its strong emphasis on education and practical training for students’ future careers. As a Visiting Assistant Professor of Biology, Dr. Miles trains her students to develop real-world skills and provides them exposure to technologies that impacted her own career. “I wanted to redesign the lab so that students could come out of the semester with some job skills if they wanted to be a technician in a lab,” she explains.
When Dr. Rebecca Miles retired from her 25-year career in pharmaceutical research at Eli Lilly, she refocused her passion for science on a new challenge. Having worked her way from the bench to Senior Director, she knew first-hand the technical skills required to successfully advance genetic medicine programs. Now, she leverages her industry experience and the latest technologies at Taylor University, a liberal arts institution in Indiana known for its strong emphasis on education and practical training for students’ future careers. As a Visiting Assistant Professor of Biology, Dr. Miles trains her students to develop real-world skills and provides them exposure to technologies that impacted her own career. “I wanted to redesign the lab so that students could come out of the semester with some job skills if they wanted to be a technician in a lab,” she explains.
Teaching Students Modern Technologies
Dr. Miles structures her lab courses to incorporate techniques that scientists would routinely use in an industry setting. Students learn cell culture, plating, luminescent assays, and data analysis in ways that mirror the workflows used in biotech and pharmaceutical labs. She encourages her students to analyze their raw data to learn how the calculations work. “I want the students to calculate it in Excel and do it themselves and see the standard deviation,” she says.
Promega’s luciferase reporter assays are an important part of this training. Rather than using Western blots, which can be challenging for students, Dr. Miles took advantage of the ease of Promega’s NF-κB reporter assays to measure transcription factor activity. The results are both intuitive and impactful. “It’s a great way to show that you can actually have a transcription factor increase RNA and you get this lovely luciferase readout,” she explains. Students are quick to notice the advantages too. As Dr. Miles recalls, “They’ll ask, ‘Hey, I want to do that luciferase assay that was so easy.’” And with CellTiter-Glo® Assays, the students can monitor how their experiments affect cell viability, leveraging the data visualizations that are automatically generated with the ProNect® CellTiter-Glo® app.
Making Science Accessible and Engaging
Affordability and portability are major advantages for a teaching institution with limited budgets and space. With a footprint only slightly larger than a microtiter plate, MyGlo® can be stored safely in a drawer and moved easily between teaching labs. “It’s so small, I don’t want it to sprout legs and walk away,” Dr. Miles jokes. The device connects through Wi-Fi, requiring only a power cord, and can be run with ProNect® Data Platform from any computer with internet access. Its user-friendly design means class time is spent on learning science, not troubleshooting equipment.
The integration with the ProNect® Data Platform adds another dimension. Immediately after reads are complete, heat maps are shown, helping students quickly check if their experiments worked before they download raw data for deeper analysis. Dr. Miles appreciates this feature to help the students do a quick QC check of their data. The short read time, color-coded heat maps and exportable data make experiments more interactive while still encouraging students to learn how to properly analyze data.
The experience MyGlo® provides is especially meaningful for undergraduates. Students at Taylor will likely encounter luciferase assays again in graduate school, medical programs, or biotech jobs. By gaining hands-on experience now, they build confidence and familiarity with techniques that will give them an advantage later. “I just felt like training the students on how you can use reporter assays and luciferase-based assays would be critical going forward. It’s just something that they’ll run into,” Dr. Miles explains. She wants them to be familiar with how the assays work, so they’re ready for whatever comes next in their careers.
A Trusted Partner for Scientific Training
MyGlo® has supported Dr. Miles’ vision for training the next generation of scientists. MyGlo® and the ProNect® Data Platform provide the students with sensitivity, accuracy, and user-friendly data visualizations at a price point compatible with limited budgets at teaching institutions. “I was thrilled to be able to access it right at this price point,” she says. “Love the product, love what it can do to teach students.” From her time in industry to her current role, Dr. Miles is focused on mentoring early career scientists and empowering them with knowledge of current technologies for future success. With MyGlo® in the classroom, she continues that mission: one student, one luminescent assay at a time.
Like Dr. Miles, you can bring industry-relevant assays into your classroom. Learn how MyGlo® Reagent Reader and Promega’s luminescent assays could transform your lab courses, and apply for Promega’s Training Support Program.
CellTiter-Glo, ProNect, and MyGlo are registered trademarks of Promega Corporation.
For research use only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures.
