Gwinnett Tech Bioscience Student Manufactures Vaccine to Fight Fish Disease
Project was part of an internship with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources
Gwinnett Technical College bioscience student Jenny Hedges knows how to make an impression while completing an internship. Hedges applied the skills she learned in the classroom and manufactured a vaccine to treat fish for enteric redmouth disease, or ERM, as part of her internship with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources at the Buford Hatchery.
"As a bioscience student, Jenny wanted to apply her laboratory training to an aquatic environment and the internship provided an ideal opportunity," says Philip Gibson, Ph.D., Bioscience program director. "This was a complex project which required all of her laboratory skills along with a willingness to roll up her sleeves and jump in – literally.”
Hatchery fish are known to contract a disease known as enteric redmouth disease, a bacterial infection found in marine and freshwater fish that can be treated with a vaccine. Hedges successfully cultured the vaccine in a lab at Gwinnett Tech and immunized 60,000 fish at the hatchery.
Hedges recently completed coursework to earn her associate degree in Bioscience Technology from Gwinnett Tech. She secured the internship with the Department of Natural Resources to fulfill Gwinnett Tech's Bioscience degree requirements, complementing her reputation as a high-performing student. Hedges also works as a laboratory assistant for the college's Bioscience program.
"This project has been a tremendous success and the Bioscience program is much improved as a direct result of Jenny's work," says Gibson. "She has demonstrated the broad spectrum to which our Bioscience associate degree program can be applied and the usefulness of our lab."
Gwinnett Tech offers an associate degree in Bioscience Technology, plus certificate programs for Bioscience Environmental Laboratory Technologist, Bioscience Regulatory Assurance Technologist, and Clinical Research Professional.
GTC offers more than 45 degree, diploma and certificate program options that you can finish in two years or less. For more information on all programs, visit www.GwinnettTech.edu or call 770-962-7580.
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