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V O L . X X X I N O. X I V J U N E 3 0 , 2 0 2 5 16 H I G H E R E D U C AT I O N / P RO F E S S I O N A L D E V E L O P M E N T F O C U S A STEM program that feeds P H O T O / C O U R T E S Y M D I B I O L A B A few years after graduating from high school in 2020, Sam Cousins enrolled at Southern Maine Community College to study biotechnology. A year-and-a-half in, the Gorham native took take a weeklong course, at Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory in Bar Harbor, that provided real-world research into regeneration — a burgeoning study of how certain cells can rebuild damaged tissue. Cousins studied the process in a tiny worm, putting into practice materials and processes that he had learned at SMCC. "It was my first taste of doing that type of research," he says. About Maine IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence Sponsor: National Institutes of Health's National Institute of General Medical Sciences. Members: MDI Bio Lab; Bates, Bowdoin, Colby colleges; College of the Atlantic, MaineHealth Institute for Research, Jackson Laboratory, Southern Maine Community College, University of Maine, UMaine Honors College, University of Southern Maine, Universities of Maine at Augusta, Farmington, Fort Kent, Machias, Presque Isle, and University of New England. Focus: Create skilled biomedical workforce through research experiences for undergrads; provide research support to faculty investigators; improve research infrastructure. Investment: $107 million since 2001, leveraging $122 million in additional grants. Outcomes: 3,000 undergraduates received hands-on biomedical research experiences; 64 faculty research projects; 100 jobs created and sustained. Sam Cousins, says real-world research prepared him for future job and academic opportunities. CAREER GROWTH A biomedical program trains future researchers, but federal funding cuts jeopardize its own outlook B y L a u r i e S c h r e i b e r

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