SSTI Digest

As part of a new initiative to address pressing ethical, legal and social questions raised by recent advances in genetic and genomic research, the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) has awarded approximately $20 million in grants to fund interdisciplinary centers within universities around the country over the next five years. NHGRI is one of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

According to NIH, each of the centers will assemble a team of experts in several disciplines such as bioethics, law, behavioral and social sciences, clinical research, theology, public policy and genetic and genomic research to develop innovative research approaches focused on specific sets of issues related to genomic research. The centers’ output, according to NIH, will be critical in formulating and implementing effective and equitable health and social polices related to genomic research.

New York City Launches Second Biotech Incubator Companies wanting to commercialize new technologies can now bring their companies to Brooklyn, with the June opening of a new technology incubator located near Downstate University's biochemistry department. The Advanced Biotechnology Incubator will eventually house up to 30 companies, according to Eva Brown Cramer, vice president for biotechnology and scientific affairs at Downstate. The $12 million incubator, funded by both government and private sources, is a first for Brooklyn and second to be opened in New York City. The first was opened in 1995 at Columbia University, according to the Daily News. Colorado Incubator Merges With Venture Company, Becomes CTEK

The National Institutes of Health (NIH), the largest federal funding source for life sciences research conducted by small tech firms, has selected the Larta Institute to manage its nationwide Commercialization Assistance Program. The multi-year $2.5 million award will target Phase II recipients of the NIH Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer Programs (SBIR/STTR).

"NIH is interested in seeing products derived from SBIR funding make their way into the marketplace for the benefit of the American people," said Jo Anne Goodnight, NIH SBIR/STTR Program Coordinator. "We are committed not only to supporting high quality research through NIH SBIR awards, but to investing in the long-term success of our SBIR-winners."

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) launched last month a $17.2 million national Biotechnology Worker Training Initiative in support of the President’s High Growth Job Training Initiative.

“This $17.2 million in training funds will recruit and train workers for jobs in the biotechnology field, which is expected to be one of the fastest growing sectors by 2012,” said Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao.

An initial award of $2.4 million was made to the Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse (PLSG), a public-private partnership dedicated to Western Pennsylvania's life sciences industry. Chao said the grant to PLSG would help increase awareness about promising biotech-related careers in the state, while addressing the need for skilled workers.

The U.S. Department of Commerce and the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) recently released reports making recommendations to address the challenges faced by the manufacturing industry. One of the recommendations in the NAPA report suggests creating a strategic plan that articulates the "next generation" of the Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP). To gather public comment on the strategic plan and respond to both reports' recommendations, MEP will hold a series of regional roundtables and webcasts this summer:

Although a significant gap still exists between women-led companies and their male counterparts, in terms of venture funding, some promising news may suggest a change in fortune for the former, a study released today by Growthink Research of Los Angeles and Chicago-based re:invention Inc. shows.

The 400-page study, Venture Funding for Women Entrepreneurs, provides a detailed profile of women-led, venture capital (VC)-funded, privately-held business enterprises and companies with women executives. The report is based on a comprehensive analysis of 1,860 companies that raised more than $19 billion of venture capital in 2003.

California voters will be at the forefront of a highly controversial issue this November when they are asked to decide on a $3 billion bond issue to fund stem cell research.

The initiative, if passed, would provide $295 million annually to California researchers over the next 10 years. Under the proposal, priority for funding would be given to stem cell research that does not qualify for federal funding, and up to 10 percent could be used to build research facilities for nonprofit research organizations.

Only a handful of metropolitan areas have the critical mass necessary to ensure sustainability of their local biotech communities, according to America’s Biotech and Life Science Clusters, a new study from the Milken Institute. At the top of the list is San Diego, followed closely by Boston and the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill metro area. Only another nine are in the running, the report contends.

According to the Institute’s 2004 Biotech Index, the top 12 metros (and their composite scores) are:

Defense 2003 SBIR Phase II Awards The Department of Defense (DoD) distributed $766.9 million in awards under fiscal year 2003 Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program competition. A total of 1,080 awards averaging more than $710,000 were made.

California led all states, landing 235 awards worth $166.8 million. As a share of the nation's total, California captured 21.7 percent of all FY 2003 Phase II SBIR funding issued by DoD. Massachusetts secured $114.1 million through 153 awards, or 14.9 percent of the U.S. total. Only one other state, Virginia, had $50 million or more in awards.

West Virginia, with five awards totaling $6.2 million, had the highest average award at $1.24 million. Hawaii's two awards also were above the $1 million average award mark.

Paul Hiller, formerly managing director of the economic development arm of the Irvine Chamber of Commerce, is the new president and chief executive officer for the Inland Empire Economic Partnership.

He may be more traditionally associated with gas-guzzling Humvees than anything remotely environmental, but Gov. Arnold Schwarznegger has become a big believer in alternative energy vehicles. The governor's recent call for creating a "Hydrogen Highway" by 2010 is, perhaps, the country's boldest commitment to getting hydrogen fuel cell vehicles on America's roadways anytime soon. It provides an example of how public-private partnerships, with the government serving as an early adopter of a potentially disruptive technology, could produce positive economic results for the state.

Marye Ann Fox, chancellor of North Carolina State University, is moving on to become chancellor of the University of California, San Diego.