7.5 million project to provide
|
 |
| At the Nov. 5 news conference, Delaware Gov. Ruth Ann Minner speaks. In the front row, from left, are Karl Steiner, DBI associate director; David Weir, DBI director; U.S. Sen. Thomas Carper; U.S. Rep. Michael Castle; U.S. Sen. Joseph Biden; UD President David P. Roselle; Delaware State University President William DeLauder; Delaware Technical and Community College President Orlando George; and Wesley College President Scott Miller |
A new statewide biomedical research partnership to encourage human health research in the First State was announced Monday, Nov. 5, at the Delaware Biotechnology Institute (DBI) in Newark by Delaware Gov. Ruth Ann Minner and members of the Congressional delegation, joined by four of the state’s university and college presidents.
The research partnership is made possible by a $5.8 million grant from the National Center for Research Resources of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The Delaware program is one of only 24 in the nation to be awarded this year.
“Like the national effort, Delaware has a similar goal,” Minner said. “I’d like each of our universities and our businesses to work to increase the number of human health researchers in Delaware. Attracting new scientists will help the state to attract new businesses and grow this vital biotechnology industry in Delaware.”
The new partnership, which involves DBI, the University of Delaware, Delaware State University, Delaware Technical & Community College and Wesley College, will begin in the fall. A $1.75 million match from the universities brings the total investment to $7.55 million over three years.
The program, called the Delaware Biomedical Research Infrastructure Network (BRIN), will also help launch new research opportunities for students and academic researchers, enhancing the state’s current educational programs. Some of the grant funds will be used to purchase sophisticated research instruments at DBI that will be shared among the researchers.
“NIH recognizes that to achieve breakthroughs in human health research, we must continue to build up our national capacity—with people, facilities, educational programs, and organizational frameworks,” David Weir, head of the BRIN program and director of the Delaware Biotechnology Institute, said. “The approach of building an infrastructure of instrumentation that can be shared gives us greater capability with existing funds and allows researchers to focus on science, rather than on how to get the money to buy their own tools.”
The program also provides for summer research internships for Delaware’s college students, whose laboratory work could range from producing more effective vaccines to studying gene repair or understanding the mechanisms at work in cancer.
“We believe that students can find an exciting career in health research in Delaware,” Weir said. “Delaware is in the midst of a life science corridor, with major pharmaceutical companies nearby, as well as important research hospitals, such as Thomas Jefferson and Johns Hopkins. There also are growing opportunities with our local hospitals, such as Christiana Care, A.I. duPont Hospital, Beebe and Bayhealth Medical Centers.”
Computing power is another important feature of the Delaware program. The Delaware institutions will be linked by a powerful bioinformatics network, which will allow researchers to conduct in-depth “data mining” of large genomic databases and to create complex mathematical models simulating biological processes. Planned computing facilities also include a “visualization” room, to allow three-dimensional simulations.
“The visualization room at DBI will allow scientists to view and manipulate 3-D models of molecular-scale events,” Karl Steiner, DBI associate director and BRIN program director, said. “Likewise, this technology may be useful to physicians studying high-precision surgical techniques.”
The BRIN program also will provide funds to establish or upgrade laboratories at each of the partner institutions and will accelerate new programs being planned. For example, Delaware State University will launch its new undergraduate degree program in biotechnology through the BRIN project, which will include scientific internships for students.
One of the most important components of the BRIN program is a network-wide faculty mentoring program, linking senior researchers with junior faculty and doctoral students.
“These scientific working relationships will help early career researchers in Delaware be more successful in winning research funding, which is critical to their careers and to the future of life science in Delaware,” Weir said.
Speaking at the news conference, U.S. Rep. Michael Castle said, “Our state has the potential to become the next major biomedical technology center...in this country, we are establishing ourselves.… Delaware is getting in the forefront of research efforts as a result of this grant.”
U.S. Sen. Thomas Carper named health, schools and jobs as three essential components of the quality of life in a community and noted, “The BRIN grant will help us on all three of those fronts—better health, better education and better jobs.”
U.S. Sen. Joseph Biden said concerns about anthrax and bioterrorism have “put a focus of the whole nation on resources related to health and prevention” and called the National Institutes of Health “the single most valuable asset in the U.S. and in the world.” He added that the cooperation of the different agencies involved in the BRIN project doesn’t happen in other states. “There are so many different levels of participation and cooperation in this state. It amazes me time and again.”
The Delaware Biotechnology Institute, which has administrative responsibility for the program, is a statewide collaboration among universities, state government and the private sector. Its new 72,000-square-foot research center in Newark is designed to house 160 researchers and to provide statewide access to state-of-the-art research laboratories.
The National Institutes of Health, a federal agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is the largest federal sponsor of university life science research programs.
