Education
Saint James School of Medicine Receives $30,000 Grant From UNDP for Launch of Bachelor’s-Level Program in St. Vincent and the Grenadines
KINGSTOWN, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, April 11, 2024 (Newswire.com) - Saint James School of Medicine (SJSM), a leading institution dedicated to providing quality medical education, is proud to announce the receipt of a $30,000 grant from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). This significant financial support will spearhead the launch of an innovative Bachelor's-level program in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, aimed at improving the higher education offering in the country.
The new Bachelor's Degree in Health Sciences is designed to offer comprehensive education and training in health sciences, preparing students for advanced medical degrees and careers in healthcare. With an emphasis on practical skills, research, and community health, the program is set to become a cornerstone of medical education in the Caribbean region.
Kaushik Guha, the Executive Vice President of Saint James School of Medicine, expressed his gratitude and excitement about the collaboration. "This generous grant from the UNDP marks a significant milestone for our institution and higher education in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The idea for this program came from the Minister of Education of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Honourable Curtis King. With his help and guidance, and the financial support from UNDP, this program will help expand the higher education offering in St. Vincent and the Caribbean. The introduction of this program enables us to expand our academic offerings and reinforces our commitment to training competent, compassionate healthcare professionals capable of addressing global health challenges."
The funding from the UNDP will facilitate the development of state-of-the-art facilities, including modern classrooms, laboratories, and research centers. Additionally, it will support the implementation of community health initiatives, providing students with hands-on experience in addressing health issues within local communities.
Prospective students and interested parties can find more information about the program and application processes on the Saint James School of Medicine website.
About Saint James School of Medicine:
Saint James School of Medicine is committed to offering students a high-quality medical education at an affordable price. With campuses in St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Anguilla, SJSM is dedicated to producing highly skilled, ethical, and compassionate physicians who are ready to meet the healthcare challenges of today and tomorrow.
Contact Information:Dan Cuckovic
V.P. of Operations
dcuckovic@mail.sjsm.org
847-375-9121
Original Source: Saint James School of Medicine Receives $30,000 Grant From UNDP for Launch of Bachelor's-Level Program in St. Vincent and the Grenadines
Latest Fit News
Chi Botanic Inc. Awarded Competitive USDA SBIR Phase I Grant for Plant Cell-Cultured Vanilla
ALAMEDA, Calif., May 4, 2023 (Newswire.com) - ChiBotanic Inc. is pleased to announce that its research and commercialization project for a new cell-cultured Vanilla 2.0 technology for a plant-based full-spectrum natural vanilla flavor has been awarded a highly competitive Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) Phase I Award of $175,000 from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA).
The proposal, "Vanilla 2.0: A reliable, sustainable, domestic supply of authentic Vanilla planifolia flavor and fragrance," will help support Chi Botanic's efforts to solve the many problems facing the natural vanilla supply chain, including a very difficult, laborious, slow-growing agricultural crop limited to tropical climates representing biodiversity hotspots. Political instability and extreme weather in regions where vanilla is grown further contribute to severe price fluctuations.
The technology Chi Botanic is creating will achieve a Vanilla planifolia plant cell culture that can be grown inexpensively anywhere and produce high concentrations of vanillin plus the many other flavor and fragrance metabolites of real vanilla. Major advantages to creation of a plant cell suspension culture specialized for production of the distinctive blend of vanilla phenylpropanoids are as follows:
- Increased value of a complex, plant-based vanilla product over the inferior synthetic vanillin that makes up 99% of the vanilla flavor on the market today.
- Unlike other synthetic biology-based methods, the system will provide the sustainability of fermentation-type methods, yet the end-product will be as complex as pure vanilla extract, which the FDA strictly defines as from vanilla seed pods. Thus, the Chi Botanic product will initially be labeled as "natural vanilla flavor" due to the source plant (Vanilla planifolia) from which the culture is derived, though not strictly from seed pods.
- Economically viable, domestic production with tight control of quality and composition. Co-location with product manufacturing possible.
- Faster growing, processing, and production times compared to farm-grown vanilla.
- Over 18,000 products contain vanillin, yet less than 1% is sourced from the plant (Sethi, 2017). Chi Botanic's own market research with potential enterprise customers has proven an eagerness to assess and willingness to pay a premium for our proposed product, with one of the world's largest suppliers of vanilla quoted as "dreaming of the day" when this could be possible.
For more information, visit the corporate website at www.chibotanic.com or email info@chibotanic.com. Digital photos are available.
Contact Information:Jonathan (Jon) Meuser
Chief Executive Officer
jon@chibotanic.com
510-227-5237
Original Source: Chi Botanic Inc. Awarded Competitive USDA SBIR Phase I Grant for Plant Cell-Cultured Vanilla
