November 2018: Malaria Invasion™, the second educational mobile game developed at the Institute for Molecular Medicine and Infectious Disease was released in Apple and Google Play App Stores as a free download. This game educates about the molecular mechanisms associated with invasion of red blood cells by the Plasmodium merozoite. The game design team consisted of digital media co-op student John Harvey, Dr. Mary Ann Comunale and Dr. Sandra Urdaneta-Hartmann. Significant funding for this project was provided by the Institute for Molecular Medicine and Infectious Disease. Also, Drs. Mary Ann Comunale, Brian Wigdahl, and Sandra Urdaneta-Hartmann co-authored the mini review "The current climate for digital game-based learning in higher science education" published in FEMS Microbiology Letters. This is an open access publication.

October 2018: Dr. Mary Ann Comunale and Dr. Sandra Urdaneta-Hartmann each received international travel awards from Drexel’s Office of Global Engagement to present their research at the European Conference on Game-Based Learning held in Antibes, France. CD4 Hunter was a semifinalist in the educational game competition held concurrently at this conference.

July 2018: Malaria Invasion™ Wins Award at International Society for Neglected Tropical Disease Festival

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June 2017: On June 1 we will release CD4 Hunter^TM, the first digital mini-game produced by IMMID-CPBD staff and faculty of Microbiology and Immunology and the Institute for Molecular Medicine and Infectious Disease. Find our posters (No. 544 and 545) at AMS Microbe 2017 (June 1 -5 in New Orleans, LA). We'll also be giving a game-based learning workshop about HIV at "End AIDS: The HIV Prevention and Outreach Summit" on June 7, an event sponsored by Philadelphia Community Health Centers during AIDS education month.

April 2017: Welcome, Andrew Bishop '18, our newest Co-op from the Animation and Visual Effects Program at Westphal College of Media Arts & Design.

Feb 2017: You can now follow us and the Institute for Molecular Medicine and Infectious Disease on Twitter @Drexel_IMMID. Tag us with #IMMID.

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Dec 2016: It's been an exciting month for game development at the Center for Business and Program Development. The first prototype of our digital game on HIV binding and attachment was completed and tested with graduate students and faculty from the Department of Microbiology and Immunology and the Institute for Molecular Medicine and Infectious Disease. We received lots of positive feedback and are looking forward to its release in 2017.

Oct 2016: The Center for Business and Program Development has welcomed its first Co-op student, Vincent Mills '18. Vincent is currently enrolled as a sophomore student at the Game Art & Production Program at Westphal College of Media Arts and Design. Vincent was recruited as our lead game programmer for a new educational app about HIV binding and attachment to immune cells. Also, congratulations to Dr. Brown for winning this year's "Dance your PhD" contest hosted by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in the Biology Category for her submission "Antibiotic Apocalypse". This short film is based on Dr. Brown's research conducted as a PhD student at the University of Glasgow in the United Kingdom on antibiotic resistance.

Sept 2016: We received an Honorable Mention at the International E-Learning Awards for the online graduate course: "The odyssey of MIIM 541S Bacteria and Bacterial Infections" taught by Elise Mosser, PhD and Mariana Bernui, PhD, faculty in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology (M&I) and IMMID. In addition, Dr. Sandra Urdaneta-Hartmann and Dr. Carla Brown, respectively Director and Postdoctoral Fellow at M&I and the Institute for Molecular Medicine and Infectious Disease, attended the 10th annual European Game-Based Learning conference in Scotland to present an oral and poster presentations described in full here . This month, Dr. Brown also attended the Science Media Awards & Summit in the Hub (SMASH) in Boston, MA as a SMASH fellow to investigate emerging trends and strategies in science communication.

August 2016: The Department of Microbiology and Immunology (M&I) launched new interdisciplinary Master of Science (MS) online and hybrid programs in the Graduate School for Biomedical Sciences and Professional Studies in collaboration with four different Drexel University Colleges and Schools. M&I now has a total of seven online or hybrid graduate programs within the Graduate School for Biomedical Sciences and Professional Studies in addition to its existing face-to-face graduate programs.

• The Biomedicine and Business program provides comprehensive training in fundamental aspects of scientific discovery, technology commercialization and business. This program prepares individuals for leadership in scientifically-oriented management positions in the public or private sector. Business courses will be taught by LeBow College of Business faculty.
• The Biomedicine and Digital Media program is a graduate degree program that intersects science, technology, art and entrepreneurship. This skills-based program is for individuals interested in media design and production careers with an emphasis in health and science. Students who choose this program will also enroll in animate, interactivity and game design courses taught by faculty from the Department of Digital Media at Drexel's Westphal College of Media Arts and Design.
• The Biomedicine and Entrepreneurship program integrates training in technical and practical aspects of science, research and entrepreneurship for individuals interested in pursuing innovation-driven careers in the life sciences. The program helps develop individual initiative and entrepreneurial thinking around scientific discoveries and innovation. Faculty from Drexel's Close School of Entrepreneurship will teach these essential skills for new venture creation.
• The Biomedicine and Law program provides interactive and comprehensive training in technical and practical aspects of science and research, as well as in the legal aspects related to new biomedical product development, entrepreneurship and regulatory compliance. This program is geared to individuals interested in careers focused on technology development. Students who pursue this graduate program will also be taught by faculty from Drexel's Thomas R. Kline School of Law.

July 2016: This month we welcomed Carla Brown, PhD, to the Center for Business and Program Development team. Dr. Brown (PhD, University of Glasgow; CEO & Founder, Game Dr.) is a microbiologist and game developer for public health education (e.g., Bacteria Combat, Fungal Invaders). As of this month, she will be a postdoctoral fellow at Drexel University College of Medicine (Department of Microbiology and Immunology), designing and developing digital games for biomedical education. These educational digital games will be implemented in M&I and IMMID taught courses. For our first project, Dr. Brown will design an educational mini-game focused on HIV binding and attachment to T cells.

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August 2015: With support of the Center for Business and Program Development, the Department of Microbiology and Immunology (M&I) launches the MS in Immunology and the MS in Infectious Disease as fully online programs within the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and Professional Studies. This program has been offered as a traditional (face-to-face) program since 2010. This brings up to three the number of online and hybrid programs offered by M&I within the School of Biomedical Sciences and Professional Studies.

March 2015: Dr. Sandra Urdaneta-Hartmann, Center for Business and Program Development Director, received a College of Medicine Professional Enrichment and Growth (PEG) grant to launch the digital game-based learning initiative within the Department of Microbiology and Immunology and the Institute for Molecular Medicine and Infectious Disease.

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October 2014: Drexel University Online celebrated National Distance Learning Week. Dr. Sandra Urdaneta-Hartmann, Director of IMMID-CPBD, and Krys Adkins, Instructional Designer at Center for Business and Program Development, received Outstanding Online Faculty and Outstanding Online Staff Awards at this event.

June 2014: With support of the Center for Business and Program Development, the Department of Microbiology and Immunology launches the MS in Molecular Medicine as a fully online program. This program has been offered as a traditional (face-to-face) program since 2010. This is the first fully online MS program offered by the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and Professional Studies at Drexel University College of Medicine. Students may now also opt to complete this program in hybrid format.

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August 2012: The Center for Business and Program Development (CBPD) was established within the Institute for Molecular Medicine and Infectious Disease (IMMID), with Sandra Urdaneta-Hartmann, MD, PhD, MBA as its director.

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