CIEL was established through a collaborative grant from the Fund for Improvement in Postsecondary Education.

Daemen College (lead), Pitzer College, and New College of Florida collaborated to develop a grant funded by The Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE). Biotechnology in Health Care was awarded a grant of $214,596 for three years; activities began September 1, 2004 and extend to August 31, 2007. The Colleges, in partnership with Athlone Institute of Technology, lead (Athlone, Ireland), Umwelt-Campus Birkenfeld, University of Trier (Birkenfeld ,Germany), and Central Ostrobothnia Polytechnic (Kokkola, Finland), are developing a model for a one-semester international exchange of science students. The program will educate students in aspects of biotechnology related to healthcare, specifically wound care research, and help prepare students in the health care professions to better address pressing health needs that require interdisciplinary team approaches and are global in scope.