Mission Statement
HudsonAlpha’s Community Engagement Task Force provides strategic and programmatic support for the Institute’s efforts to engage our community, reach untapped populations, support the next generation of STEM workers and foster a workplace where all perspectives are included and valued.
The Community Engagement Task Force includes individuals with varied experience, skill sets, training, backgrounds, perspectives, and priorities. We work together to provide strategic guidance and programmatic support for existing and new initiatives that further our mission of using genomics to improve life through research, education and entrepreneurship. Our group is led by a small strategic team and is over 20 members strong.
Cast a wide net, recruiting individuals representing broad backgrounds and viewpoints
Foster workplace culture that promotes compassion, mutual respect and value for individual contributions and perspectives.
Nurture biosciences trainees especially those from historically untapped populations.
Connect our community with HudsonAlpha's work and benefits of biotechnology.
HudsonAlpha Research
HudsonAlpha received over $2 million in funding in 2023 supporting a variety of programs that seek to diversify the workforce, provide education and training and remove barriers to genetic information and research for underserved populations.
NSF Engines Development Award: Advancing carbon-neutral crop technologies to develop sustainable consumer goods in Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee
Project: GREENING THE SOUTHEAST
Led by Jeremy Schmutz, Sam Jackson, PhD, and
Kankshita Swaminathan, PhD
HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology, along with several regional collaborators, was awarded $1 million from the U.S. National Science Foundation’s Regional Innovation Engines, or NSF Engines, program. We are among more than 40 unique teams to receive one of the first-ever NSF Engines Development Awards, which aim to help partners collaborate and create economic, societal, and technological opportunities for their regions.
The funded project aims to develop a green, circular bioeconomy for building materials and consumer goods in the Southeast that reduces climate change impacts from manufacturing by eliminating industry reliance on petroleum and environmentally costly fibers.
HudsonAlpha Educational Outreach
HudsonAlpha’s Educational Outreach team engages a broad student and educator population. Our programs touch nearly every county in our state and engage students with diverse backgrounds. Several initiatives seek to reduce barriers for training and educational programs among individuals underrepresented in STEM.
- BRIDGES Boosting Retention, Interest, and Diversity through Guided Experiences in STEM
- HudsonAlpha Biotech Launch
- L.A.B.S. Launching Aspiring Biotechnology Scientists
- SPARK
- Genetic Explorers
- CODE
HudsonAlpha WIREGRASS Peanut Breeding Project
In the Wiregrass region of Alabama, the Educational Outreach team has collaborated with seven local city school systems to bring science skills to the region.
The HudsonAlpha WIREGRASS Peanut Breeding project has touched 600+ local student scientists with an opportunity to learn about the power of genomics in feeding the world. Students from diverse social and economic backgrounds planted a peanut seed, extracted DNA from that peanut, and analyzed the DNA for traits important to local farmers. Plants grown by these students are being used in a real research project led by Josh Clevenger, PhD, to create a new peanut cultivar.
HudsonAlpha Economic Development
HudsonAlpha was built on the idea of translating research findings into applications and our economic development team and HudsonAlpha associate companies are a shining example of the success that is possible when individuals with diverse backgrounds participate in and lead these transformational programs.
- HudsonAlpha, a catalyst for the region’s growing life sciences sector, is home to many growing biotech companies with diversity in leadership. 41% of HudsonAlpha’s associate companies are minority or female-led.
- HudsonAlpha is home to the Center for Rural Enterprise and Economic Justice which aims to reduce health and economic disparities. CREEJ is led by Catherine Flowers, an inspiring leader and advocate for the cause.
- In 2023, HudsonAlpha hosted two fellows from the Young Transatlantic Innovation Leaders Initiative Fellowship Program in a partnership with the US Department of State to empower entrepreneurs hailing from Latin America, the Caribbean and Canada.
HudsonAlpha Statewide Impact
HudsonAlpha is proud to be a part of the North Alabama Community and has benefitted from amazing supporters throughout the region. We recognize the potential impact we can have as we expand our reach throughout the state. Efforts to reach across the state span multiple mission areas. Education leads educator workshops, internships and camp opportunities continue to expand and our cancer awareness and screening programs are still growing.
- Information is Power partners with HBCUs
- WIREGRASS middle school camps
- Information is Power collaborates with healthcare providers like Rural Health Medical Program