Bio-1 Governance Board spotlight on Dr. Michael Palladino, Dean, Monmouth University’s School of Science
By Kate Chechko

As the Dean of Monmouth University’s School of Science Dr. Michael Palladino’s “typical” day is far from typical.  Morning briefings with his assistant about any issues surrounding the school are often followed with the answering of up to 300 emails a day, teaching, lab research and attending a variety of meetings.  He also delivers talks on and off campus about the university and research that he has completed, and he especially enjoys when he gets to teach classes.  Dr. Palladino is the author of three textbooks, one of which is the most popular undergraduate biotechnology textbook in the country.  When he leaves the office, he enjoys being a father to his son and two daughters.

Dr. Palladino especially loves creating opportunities for students and faculty throughout the campus. He is very excited about The School of Science Summer Research Program that he has launched which provides more than 70 high school and college students with the opportunity to work as paid research assistants with School of Science faculty and staff.  He loves seeing students excited to do work in the lab, and one of his biggest highs is during graduation where he has the opportunity to graduates from the 500-plus students in the School of Science move on to their future career plans in the sciences.

When asked about the long-term goals of the WIRED program, Dr. Palladino says New Jersey has an incredible array of talent in education and industry to offer in the biosciences.  He wants to keep that talent deep within the state and is involved in create networking and communication opportunities between educators, students and the industry.  He would especially like to see an increased awareness of the resources available to students and educators throughout the state.  One of the opportunities that he has made available is through the NJBEC (New Jersey biotechnology Educators Consortium), which foster communication between NJ biotechnology educators at the high school and college levels and promotes communication between the educators and the NJ biotechnology industry.  It is through NJBEC that Dr. Palladino became a member of the Governance Board for WIRED Bio-1.

Although the funding for Bio-1’s WIRED grant ends in June 2010, Dr. Palladino wants to see the established programs continue. People are currently more aware then they were a few years ago about the myriad of opportunities within the state.  Statewide communication networks between key entities in the biosciences have been created in a way that has not happened before and he would very strongly like to see this continue. He hopes that in the future, industry leaders will be more hooked into the idea of joining these networking opportunities in order to get internships for high school and college students and jobs in the biosciences for recent grads.