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Dontae Mosley thought he might earn his master’s degree someday, but as he approached completion of his undergraduate degree in biotechnology at the University of North Carolina Pembroke, he felt like his graduate education would have to wait.
“I didn’t actually think that going to graduate school at that time was achievable for me just due to finances,” Mosley says.
But a chance encounter while delivering sandwiches for a seminar at UNC Pembroke about NC State University’s Interdisciplinary Biochemistry Master’s Program changed his trajectory when Mosley bumped into Greg Buhrman, former coordinator for the IBMP program.
“We met at the steps, and I noticed he had an NC State button on, and I was like ‘Hey, are you from NC State?’ and he was like ‘Yeah, I’m here to talk about this program,’” Mosley recalls.
Buhrman, now an analytical scientist with NC State’s Biomanufacturing Training and Education Center, explained that the IBMP program supported students with financial need, providing funding for tuition and a stipend for other expenses.
It wasn’t long after that meeting in 2019 that Mosley applied to earn his master’s degree through the program.
“When it comes to your professional development, in some careers you need a little bit more research experience and time to build your expertise,” he says. “I definitely needed more time to develop professionally, and I think the IBMP program gave me that experience.”
Launched in 2018 with funding from a National Science Foundation Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (S-STEM) grant, the IBMP program has increased access to graduate school for more students and strengthened the talent pipeline for the biotechnology industry, which continues to expand in North Carolina. According to the North Carolina Biotechnology Center, good paying jobs in the life sciences have grown by 20% since 2020.
Now the program, which is recruiting for the fall 2026 semester, is poised to grow with funding from a new $2 million National Science Foundation S-STEM grant, providing a greater focus on interdisciplinary research and faculty mentorship for students.
Expanding Access
Over the last eight years, the program has trained 23 graduate students, all of whom have graduated or are on track to graduate this year. A total of 12 IBMP graduates have landed industry jobs at companies such as Syngenta, Nouryon and Grifols. Another five students continued on to earn their doctoral degrees, and one went to medical school.
“Our goal is to expand opportunities for graduate education and good paying jobs to talented low-income students,” says Robert Rose, an associate professor of biochemistry and director of the IBMP program.
Core to the program is its focus on interdisciplinary research, an emphasis Rose says provides students with a broad background and prepares them for today’s changing job market.
“Having the ability to be flexible and know how to learn new skills is very important,” Rose says. “I think it is very beneficial for students to think about problems from different perspectives.”
Enrique Garcia, one of the first graduates of the IBMP program, conducting protein purification during his time at NC State. Today, Garcia is a production engineer with chemical company Nouryon.The program first focused on a collaborative effort between five departments in NC State’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences —Molecular and Structural Biochemistry; Plant and Microbial Biology; Food, Bioprocessing and Nutrition Sciences; Animal Science; and the Prestage Department of Poultry Science. Starting in the fall of 2026, the IBMP will expand its interdisciplinary scope to include CALS faculty from the departments of Crop and Soil Sciences, Biological and Agricultural Engineering, Applied Ecology, and Entomology and Plant Pathology. Additionally, faculty from the university’s College of Sciences and the College of Engineering will serve as research mentors for students in the program.
Another new aspect of the program is that master’s students who excel will be eligible to transfer to NC State’s doctoral program in biochemistry. And with a growing focus on campus to promote interdisciplinary research, including the Integrative Sciences Initiative, Rose says the IBMP provides opportunities for master’s students to participate and contribute to these expanding efforts. In the long run, he hopes the IBMP program can serve as an example that other departments can adopt.
“I hope that we can establish this as a model for supporting master’s students,” Rose says. “I think there’s a real need for that in terms of giving people opportunities.”
Applied Science
For Mosley, the support from faculty with the IBMP program gave him the confidence to keep going when he initially struggled in his first months as a graduate student.
“Dr. Rose, Dr. Buhrman and Dr. [Michael] Goshe, they all sat with me at different times and they all said ‘You can do this. You are smart enough. You just have to continue to apply yourself.’ And the rest is history.”
After that, he settled in, first exploring interdisciplinary research in poultry science before switching to purifying proteins and analyzing enzyme mechanisms with Tom Makris, a professor in the Department of Molecular and Structural Biochemistry. His experience in Makris’ lab led to his first job after graduate school in 2022 with vaccine company Seqirus as a scientific associate in clinical trial manufacturing.
Today, Mosley is a research associate with gene therapy company AskBio, located in Research Triangle Park.
“I definitely rely on a lot of the research experience I gained at NC State,” Mosley says, noting that he’s had a lot of opportunity to explore different roles in biotechnology since graduating. “It’s pretty fun. I think the IBMP program definitely set me up for success.”
Students interested in learning more about the program and how to apply can contact Robert Rose orJoe Barycki, director of graduate programs for the Department of Molecular and Structural Biochemistry.
