Science Market Update

Minnesota Researchers Fight Cancer With Fungi

Posted by Sam Asher on Thu, Jan 10, 2013

While today’s advancements in biotechnology suggest that there’s nothing we can’t artificially produce, sometimes there’s just no substitute for nature’s own recipes. At least, that’s the philosophy behind the University of Minnesota’s Schmidt-Dannert Lab, whose aim is to harness compounds created in natural organisms like plants and fungi that cannot be produced by chemical means. Many of these compounds have beneficial properties that can be used in further research and drug production.

For example, take chloroplasts, the organelles that perform photosynthesis inside plant cells. They provide energy to plant cells when exposed to light. Animal cells don’t have chloroplasts, which means they’re missing out on a valuable energy source. The Schmidt-Dannert Lab, led by University of Minnesota professor Claudia Schmidt-Dannert, is working toward is creating solar-powered animal cells that are more productive and produce different sorts of organic materials.

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Tags: 2014, Midwest, 2013, University of Minnesota, University of Minnesota St. Paul, Fungi, Minnesota, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, BioResearch Product Faire Event, Funding, Biotechnology, Research, researchers, Minneapolis, lab, MN, Front Line, St. Paul, UMinn, UMinnSP, U-M, fight cancer

Columbia Brain Research Institute Advances With $200M Zuckerman Gift

Posted by Jaimee Saliba on Mon, Jan 07, 2013

columbia university presidentNeurobiology research has a long and storied history at Columbia University and its Medical School in New York, dating back to the groundbreaking work of American neurologist Harry Grundfest 60 years ago. 30 years ago Columbia became one of the first universities to bring together diverse, cross-disciplinary researchers in neighboring labs to study behavior at the cellular, molecular, and systems level. By 2004, when Columbia celebrated its 250th anniversary, university president Lee Bollinger (right) announced the formation of a Mind Brain Behavior Initiative to more productively bring scientists into an even more integrated research effort across not only the two existing New York City campuses, but with an anchor (and crossroads) at the new CU Manhattanville campus then in the active planning stages.

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Tags: 2014, 2013, Northeast, New York, Columbia University, brain research, Neuroscience, Columbia, BioResearch Product Faire Event, Funding, Neurology, NY, New York City, Northeast Region, charitable giving

UCLA School of Medicine Celebrates $100M Geffen Gift

Posted by Jaimee Saliba on Thu, Dec 27, 2012

ucla medical schoolIn 2002, entertainment mogul David Geffen gave an unrestricted gift of $200M to the University of Calfornia Los Angeles' School of Medicine, which was subsequently named the David Geffen School of Medicine (DGSOM) in recognition of his generosity. Now, Mr. Geffen has made a further gift of $100M to establish a medical scholarship fund that will offer full funding to the most qualified and promising medical students, whether they are pursuing the MD degree or the MD/PhD in UCLA's renowned Medical Scientist Training Program. As the aim of the scholarship program is to recruit the best students in the world to DGSOM, both American and international students are eligible. All costs including living expenses and supplies are covered by the award and are offered for all 4 years (or 8 in the combined MD/PhD scientist program).

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Tags: CA, University of California Los Angeles, California, 2012, Los Angeles, Funding, UCLA, Biotechnology Vendor Showcase, medical school, charitable giving

TX Cancer Research Fund Appoints "Legendary" New Chief Scientific Officer

Posted by Jaimee Saliba on Wed, Dec 12, 2012

chief science officerIn an attempt to shore up both the reputation and functionality of the nations's largest state-funded cancer agency, officials at the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) just announced the appointment of Dr. Margaret Kripke as the agency's new chief scientific officer. The embattled agency has faced accusations from many of its key scientists that irregularities and favoritism in the funding process have undermined their scientific credibility and put commercialization above research.

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Tags: cancer research, women in science, Texas A&M University, Texas Medical Center, Texas, Southwest, 2012, College Station, BioResearch Product Faire Event, Funding, Houston

First 25 of 250 New Research Faculty Hires Announced by Stony Brook

Posted by Jaimee Saliba on Thu, Nov 29, 2012

Last year when we reported on the extraordinary $150 Million gift by the Simons Foundation to Stony Brook University (read the blog), we noted that part of the gift was earmarked for new research faculty hires as part of the SUNY 2020 Plan. Indeed the goal is to hire as many as 250 new researchers into the SUNY System by the year 2020--100 at the Stony Brook campus. The first 25 of those positions will be in 5 "clusters," which were recently selected from a larger pool of program proposals in the first round of the University's interdisciplinary faculty cluster hiring initiative. Rather than approving individual faculty members, or even allotting funds to individual departments, SBU is looking at using this unprecedented opportunity to strengthen its interdisciplinary programs through this clustered hiring of faculty who will work within a department but also as part of a larger team.

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Tags: New York, 2012, Stony Brook University, BioResearch Product Faire Event, Funding, NY, Southwest Region, National Lab, Stoneybrook, new research faculty

Mt Sinai Neuroscience Research Excellence Earns Strong NIH Funding

Posted by Jaimee Saliba on Thu, Nov 15, 2012

The Department of Neuroscience at New York's Mount Sinai School of Medicine comprises 25 research laboratories with total NIH funding for 2012 of $19.3M. Most labs are on the 9th Floor of the Icahn Medical Institute building on Madison Avenue. Neuroscience faculty may also receive support and engage in collaborative research through MSSM's Friedman Brain Institute, which coordinates brain and spinal cord research from departments and clinics across the medical school campus. In fact, the largest recipient of 2012 NIH funding at MSSM Neuroscience is Brain institute Director Eric J. Nestler, MD, PhD.

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Tags: Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Northeast, New York, 2012, Neuroscience, MSSM, BioResearch Product Faire Event, Funding, NIH, New York City

UCSB Opens New Stem Cell Labs, Lures Top Research Scientist

Posted by Jaimee Saliba on Tue, Nov 13, 2012

The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) has just celebrated the opening of its latest state-of-the-art research labs, at UC Santa Barbara's Center for Stem Cell Biology and Engineering. The new labs are located in the Bio II Building next to the Life Sciences Building on the eastern edge of campus. The 10,000sf, $6.4M wholesale renovation has taken about 5 years to go from concept to full realization. All funding came from CIRM or private donations, to allow faculty the flexibility to study the full range of stem cell technologies, without regard to federal funding limitations. The new Center is part of the Neuroscience Research Institute at UCSB. 

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Tags: CA, Stem cell research, New research facilities, new science wet labs, Southwest, California, 2012, University of California Santa Barbara, Funding, Front Line event, UCSB

Irvine Biomedical Engineering Nets $3M NSF Grant for Biophotonics PhD Program

Posted by Jaimee Saliba on Mon, Oct 29, 2012

biomedical biophotonicsOne of the ways to measure how well a program or department at a university is doing is to look at their graduate programs. To be able to offer the PhD in a specialized area, you need qualified faculty willing and able to take on teaching and mentoring responsibilities; a strong reputation for excellence in the area; research opportunities (and RA funding) for those doctoral students; and equipment and laboratory facilities, to name just a few factors. So when you see an institution win a major grant to launch a PhD program, you know that's a hot area for research and facilities expansion as well.

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Tags: CA, biomedical research, Photonics, University of California Irvine, Southwest, California, 2012, BioResearch Product Faire Event, Funding, Irvine

Corvallis Research Funding Surges Forward on Waves of Success and Innovation

Posted by Jaimee Saliba on Thu, Oct 25, 2012

Oregon State University in Corvallis is the state's leading public research institution and has recently announced that the 2011 fiscal year ending in June was its 2nd best ever for overall research funding levels (the prior year being #1 by a hair). In fact, 2011 was OSU's top year for private sector funding, at $35M, which inclulded payments for testing services, environmental analysis, prototype development and licensing fees. That figure represents a 42% increase over 2 years. Alll in all, Oregon State counted $261.7M in external funding in the 2011 fiscal year.

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Tags: Oregon State University, Northwest, Oregon, 2012, Funding, Front Line event, marine science, OR, Corvallis, NSF, ORSTU

Rockefeller Scientist Wins $2.1M NIH Grant to Establish New Research Program

Posted by Jaimee Saliba on Mon, Oct 15, 2012

rockefeller research awardIt's an honor to receive a postdoctoral fellowship to continue your professional training in an established lab just after getting your PhD; it's even more prestigious to to win a postdoc fellowship to start your own lab research program. Dr. Brad Rosenberg finished the clinical portion of his M.D.-PhD program last year at Weill Cornell Medical Center, having earned his PhD from Rockefeller University through the Tri-Institutional Program two years earlier. This year he is conducting his own research at Rockefeller using advanced high-throughput sequencing techniques to analyze lymphocytes in the immune system.

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Tags: Rockefeller University, New York, 2012, Immune System, BioResearch Product Faire Event, Funding, NY, NIH, New York City, BRPF

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