By Hugh Fisher

Kannapolis Citizen

SALISBURY — Rowan-Cabarrus Community College is laying the foundation for its North Carolina Research Campus presence with the hiring of a well-known scientist to head its biotechnology program.

Dr. Ed Otto joined the college's staff last week and is already hard at work, planning the college's biotechnology curriculum and helping administrators determine the shape of the school's NCRC facility.

"I'm delighted to be here," Otto said. "I think the program is an exciting opportunity for the community and for RCCC."

He has decades of experience not only as a scientist but as an administrator for several biotechnology firms.

The science is his field of expertise, and he has years of experience as a researcher and administrator of various scientific projects in genetics and other biomedical fields.

Administrators say that experience made him the prime candidate for the job.

"He speaks the language," said Jeanie Moore, vice president of continuing education programs at RCCC. "He's a good communicator. And as you're planning facilities like we are, you want someone who understands the equipment and knows your needs."

Biotechnology is Otto's field of choice. "To me, biotechnology is a revolutionary technology that is important in medicine, in nutrition and in so many different areas," he said.

"My interests have always been genetics and biotechnology," Otto said. "The majority of my time has been spent in the genetic and cell therapy fields."

He holds a doctorate in molecular biology from Duke University, in addition to graduate and undergraduate degrees from the University of North Carolina.

Among his past accomplishments, Otto has been a director of the Office of Cellular, Tissue and Gene Therapies at the Food and Drug Administration's Center for Biologic Evaluation and Research, director of Genetic Therapy Inc. in Washington, D.C., and manager of the North Carolina BioNetwork Pharmaceutical Center in Winston-Salem.

Campus Watch logo. Graphic by Andy Mooney, Salisbury Post.

RCCC Senior Vice President Jerry Chandler said that Otto's leadership experience and extensive knowledge of the field qualified him for the post, but it was his personality and communication skills that recommended him most highly.

"I was impressed not only with his academic credentials and experience but also with the ease with which he could describe biotechnology processes and applications to a lay person," Chandler said.

As director of the college's biotechnology program, Otto has responsibility for helping college leaders know what courses to require, what types of equipment to purchase, and how to meet the current and future needs of employers across the region.

Courses and curricula for the program are being determined now, and students who will have received all of their biotechnology education at RCCC will be graduating by spring 2009, according to Moore.

In the meantime, through articulation agreements with schools in neighboring counties, students will be able to begin their studies at RCCC and take specialized courses through other schools with biotechnology programs, such as Gaston College in Gastonia, Wake Technical Community College in Raleigh and Forsyth Technical Community College in Winston-Salem.

Students at RCCC are already getting a taste of what the field of biotechnology has to offer, thanks to partnerships with these colleges.

Last week, the N.C. BioNetwork's mobile laboratory visited the Salisbury campus to give demonstrations to students as part of the school's Fall Festival.

The mobile lab is based at Wake Tech, and features scientific hardware that can be used to teach short courses and specific skills.

Meanwhile, Otto said that it was exciting to be in at the foundational levels of a new program. Last Thursday he traveled with planners from Castle & Cooke, the firm helping to design the research campus, to discuss the needs of the college's facility there.

Rowan-Cabarrus Community College's instructional and lab building is slated to open by late 2008.

Contact Hugh Fisher at 704-933-3450 or hfisher@kannapoliscitizen.com.