On Tuesday, March 24, 2026, GO Virginia Region 7 funded something the Commonwealth has not had before: a structured, credentialed pathway that takes students from their first day in a real biotechnology laboratory all the way to a career in one of the fastest-growing industries in America. The program is called Life-Sciences Innovation & Future Talent–Virginia (LIFT-VA). It was built here, by people from here, because the next generation of Virginia’s life-sciences workforce deserves more than a promise — they deserve a pathway.
The Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) board awarded funding to LIFT-VA, a first-of-its-kind collaboration engineered by Future Kings’ academic framework, delivered through Genomic Education Mentors & Scientists (GEMS) and its scientist-mentor network, and built on the scientific platform of Athari BioSciences’ BSL-2, CLIA-certified laboratory in Sterling, Virginia, where students train on real equipment, run real experiments, and earn real, transferable college credits. It is not a simulation. It is not a classroom exercise. It is science, happening right now, with the next generation of Virginia’s biotechnology workforce.
The timing could not be more deliberate. AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly, Merck, and a growing roster of global pharmaceutical companies are committing billions to Virginia, bringing thousands of high-paying jobs in biotechnology, genomics, biomedical research, and manufacturing. The question is no longer whether those jobs will come. The question is whether Virginia’s workforce will be trained, skilled, and ready when they do. LIFT-VA was built to answer that question.
LIFT-VA answers it with a single, connected pipeline; from middle school STEM enrichment through college-level credentialing, workforce training, and direct employer placement. Students move through hands-on laboratory experiences across Prince William and Loudoun County facilities, earning ACE-accredited credentials through a dual-track train-the-trainer model designed to scale across the Commonwealth. Every step earns a credential. Every credential opens a door. Every door leads to high-paying professions that create lasting economic mobility.
“GO Virginia investments are a win for families, a win for local communities, and a win both for the businesses who call Virginia home—and the companies looking to expand in the Commonwealth. By equipping Virginians with the skills they need to find jobs in high-demand fields, we can help set them on a course for life-long success and make sure Virginia leads the way in the competitive industries shaping the future.”
— Governor Abigail Spanberger
Commonwealth of Virginia
Governor Spanberger’s remarks, released Friday, April 17, 2026, reflect the same conviction that shaped LIFT-VA from the ground up. The program directly advances the Commonwealth’s economic priorities: building coordinated talent pipelines that support job placement, internships, and apprenticeships in the life sciences, while expanding access to high-demand skills in artificial intelligence, data center operations, and emerging technologies; particularly in rural and underserved communities. The result is a program that does not simply prepare students for the workforce. It prepares the workforce for the Commonwealth’s future.
“The LIFT-VA program is extremely important because it creates real opportunities for motivated people to gain hands-on experience, develop valuable work-based skills, and build careers in biotechnology, AI, data center operations, and the life sciences. Virginia’s economy is transforming at speed. LIFT-VA makes sure the people of this region transform with it.”
— Susan Mitchell
CEO, Athari BioSciences, Inc. & Executive Director, GEMS
What makes LIFT-VA different is not just what it teaches; it is who built it and why. Future Kings has spent a decade putting science in the hands of young people who were told, by circumstance, that science was not for them. GEMS has built a scientist-mentor network that turns that belief into reality. When those missions found a scientific home at Athari BioSciences, something larger became possible: a program where no credential is theoretical; no mentor is a stranger to the work, and every student is the future Virginia is investing in.
“We are engineering great futures through incorporating AI in our proven applied learning, biomedical sciences workforce training program that we’ve used for the past 10 years.”
— Dr. Arik King
Executive Director, Future Kings
The science running through LIFT-VA is led by Dr. Tshaka Cunningham, Chief Science Officer of Athari BioSciences and GEMS, whose work is focused on building science for life.
“The LIFT-VA program will have a transformational impact on life sciences training in Region 7 and across the state of Virginia. It will provide students and trainees with real-world, hands-on research training experiences that will propel them into higher-paying jobs in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors. Most importantly, it will help Virginia meet its growing need for life sciences workforce talent to support the recent influx of large pharmaceutical companies to the Commonwealth.”
— Dr. Tshaka Cunningham
Chief Science Officer, Athari BioSciences & GEMS
LIFT-VA launches in Region 7 with the in-kind support of Loudoun County Public Schools, Prince William County Public Schools, Loudoun County Economic Development, Prince William County Economic Development, and a network of R1 research university and regional biotechnology partners. It begins here. It is designed to grow across the Commonwealth and beyond.
About the Organizations
Athari BioSciences, Inc. is a BSL-2, CLIA-certified diagnostic, research, and training laboratory in Sterling, Virginia, founded in 2021 with a mission to deliver measurable scientific impact for clients, communities, and the Commonwealth. “Athari means impact. Together, let’s make one.”
Future Kings is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit STEM enrichment organization with a decade of experience delivering applied learning and biomedical sciences workforce training to students who have historically not been exposed to life sciences.
Genomic Education Mentors and Scientists (GEMS) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to genomic science workforce development, operating programs including Future Queens of STEMM, Laboratory Literacy & Leadership, and the Biotech & BD cohort.
Read more here.