by
Meagan Pasternak, BA
Senior Manager
Workforce Training & Regional Development
The Early Stage Professionals (ESPs) Mentoring Working Group launched the 2022-2023 Edition of the ISCT Mentoring Program with a kick-off call on November 8th. The interactive kick-off meeting set the context and expectations for the program and included presentations from Bruce Levine, Immediate Past ISCT President and Sandeep Soni, Co-Chair of the ISCT Immuno and Gene Therapy Community, both longtime mentors of the program.
Now in its fifth edition, the theme of this year’s program is #Collaboration&Continuity, focusing on fostering increased collaboration between the ESP Committee and other ISCT Committees and the continuance of the development of the next generation of CGT leaders.
This is the largest ISCT Mentoring Program to date with a total of 232 Participants – 139 mentees (50% increase since last year) and 93 Mentors (85% increase since last year) from all 5 regions and across all five areas of expertise (Research, Clinical, Industry and Commercialization, Regulatory, and Laboratory & Operations).
The Mentoring Program aims to provide useful professional development, career direction and planning, skills development, and meaningful relationship building for mentees to confidently traverse their respective research, clinical, and industry spaces. This year’s program will feature:
- Professional Development Series
In collaboration with ISCT Scientific and Stakeholder Committees to provide depth within and across expertise areas with CGT professional-involved programs, including a Career Panel & Workshop and an Expert Drop-In Event
- Networking Series
Opportunities to communicate and engage with other Mentees and Mentors, leveraging the mentoring community to expand networks and gain exposure to parallel areas, including small group mentoring and the Mentoring Community forum
Mentoring groups will meet monthly from November 2022 - June 2023 and the program will be capped off with an in-person event at the ISCT 2023 Annual Meeting in Paris.
Thank you to all our Mentors who generously volunteer their time to make this essential program possible and supporting the next generation of leaders in cell and gene therapy. We encourage all ESPs to join the ISCT Early-Stage Professionals LinkedIn group to be aware of new events and developments within The Society.
#TrainingandDevelopment#29.11