Billion dollar pledge for biotech
Local researchers gearing up for opportunity
The recent announcement by Gov. Deval Patrick of $1 billion in state funding for biotechnology research has "delighted" local scientists.
Very recently, Eric Overström, a professor and head of the department of biology and biotechnology at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, was lamenting the state's lack of progress in biotechnology initiatives, especially compared to other states.
Now, Overström is singing an entirely different tune, though he said he was not surprised by Patrick's announcement last week.
"I'm not overly surprised, but I'm certainly delighted," said Overström, who said he believed unsolicited proposals from the University of Massachusetts for state funding for a biotechnology and stem-cell research facility may have solidified Patrick's opinions about the importance of the funding. "This puts us in rarified air with California. It's not the $3 billion they announced out there, but it puts the commonwealth well above what other states have done."
Overström said he was most pleased with the broad scope of the initiative. In addition to funding infrastructure and bricks-and-mortar research centers, the plan will also foster partnerships between public and private enterprise.
A key component of the plan would establish the nation's first repository of existing and new stem cell lines at UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester.
More importantly, the plan will also provide grants for new research and allow young researchers to get involved at earlier stages than previously possible, Overström said.
"It will allow these very bright and well-trained ‘scientists of the future' to get some support," he said. "In this state, we train more researchers than any other state, but there have to be opportunities for them to stay here and work here, too. This will allow that to happen for them, not only on the educational side, but also on the commercial side. It's a big benefit."
WBJ Web Partners
Most Recent
Most Recent
0 Comments