MBP offers a sequence of seminar series that focus on the non-technical aspects of biotechnology education. Seminars cover a variety of topics such as intellectual property, compliance and regulatory affairs, cGMP (current Good Manufacturing Practices), GLP (Good Laboratory Practices), process development, communication skills, inter-personal skills, and career development. These seminars are presented by experts from the biotechnology and related industries. Students get an opportunity to interact individually and in groups with the speakers during and after the seminars.

A representative list of seminars from previous years is given below:

2006-2007 Seminars

• Jesse Seidman (Sr. Manager, Global Regulatory Affairs, Baxter Healthcare) Fundamentals of Biotech Product Regulation
• Jeff Lievense (VP, Bioengineering, Research & Development, Tate & Lyle North America)
• E. Terry Papoutsakis (Walter P. Murphy Professor, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Northwestern University) Resumes, Networking, & Job Searches
• Biotech Careers Roundtable
• Dr. Ben Lane (Proj. Leader, Metabolic Disease Research, Abbott Laboratories, retired)
• Eric Emery (Vice President of Manufacturing, PDL BioPharma)
• Michael Rosen (Sr. Vice-President of New Business Development, Science & Technology Group, Forest City Enterprises)
• Christi McDowell (Associate Director of Upstream Process Development, GenVec) The Role of Process Development in the Advancement of Clinical Trial Programs: Case Studies of HIV Vaccine and TNFerade™
• Igor Kourkine (Associate Director, Master of Biotechnology Program, Northwestern University
  Intellectual Property (2 meetings)
  • Basics of Patent Procedures
  • Effective Management of Intellectual Property
• Eric Emery (Vice President Manufacturing, PDL BioPharma) Good Manufacturing Practices for Biotechnology Products
• Lisa Fink (Manager II, Quality, Baxter Healthcare Corporation) Good Laboratory Practices in the Biotechnology Industry
• Thomas Meade (Eileen M. Foell Professor of Chemistry, Northwestern University) Seeing is Believing
• David Amrani (Senior Director Cellular Therapies/Technology Resources, Baxter Healthcare) Regenerative Medicine
• Barbara Shwom (College Lecturer, WCAS Writing Program Director, Northwestern University)

Scientific Writing Workshop (5 meetings)

• Introduction to MBP Reports
• Guided Practice to Improve Progress Report
• Communicating Effectively with Graphics 
• Planning Effective PowerPoint Presentations
• Organizing the Final Report