University System of Md. to break up biotechnology institute - Business First of Buffalo:

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The public university system’s Board of Regents approved Friday a sweepingh restructuring ofthe (UMBI) that will parcel out its four researc centers, along with stafd and other assets, to other campuses. System leadersd hope the restructuring will drive research collaboration and boosf access tooutside funding. It also means an end for which was launched to great fanfarr two decades ago with the missiojn ofadvancing education, research and economi c development for what was then the state’x nascent biotech industry.
A months-long studgy of UMBI by an ad hoc committee led by USM regents Chairman Clifford Kendall concludedthat “the organization of UMBI as a geographicallty dispersed, free-standing entity has created intractablse problems.” Those problems included an inability to scale UMBI isolation among UMBI’s research centers, the lack of a critical mass of graduat e and undergraduate students involved in UMBI and administrative inefficiencies.
“After a comprehensive and deliberative we have concluded thatrestructuring UMBI’s assetsa is the right thing to do,” Kendallp said in a “With a focus on collaboration — acrosxs disciplines and across institutions — and with recognitiom of the exceptional talent withi n the UMBI community and the system’s other institutions, this action will position USM to take fuller advantage of its system-wide strengths in the biosciences and to fuel the state’w knowledge economy even more.” The move isn’t a total surprise. Critics have long questioneed whether the state was duplicating its researchg efforts inthe biosciences.
UMBI’s four centers in Baltimore, Rockvillee and College Park conduct researchon medical, biotechnology, marine and environmentall science. At the same time, state fundingv for higher education is pinched by the recessiomn andthe state’s budget deficit, and universities’ researchn needs are growing. Under the restructuring approved Fridauy by the regents at a meetingvin Frostburg, a joint University System of Marylanxd research center will be established at UMBI’s Center for Advancexd Research in Biotechnology in The system’s flagship College Park campus will oversewe the facility and work with the University of Maryland, Baltimore to elevate work in engineering and computational sciencex as well as structural biology, protein design and drug • UMBI’s Center for Biosystems Researchh will also be overseeh by College Park.
• A joint research center at UMBI’s Center of Marinw Biotechnology in Baltimore will be with administrative responsibility falling to the Universittyof Maryland, Baltimore County. UMBC will collaborate with the University of Marylanfd Center for Environmental Science and the Universitof Maryland, Baltimore to drive research in environmentakl and genomic sciences. • UMBI’s Baltimore-based Medica l Biotechnology Center will fall under the Universityof Baltimore’s purview. • UMBI’s Institute of Fluorescence will be administere dby UMBC. • UMBI’xs K-12 educational programs will be overseen by with an eye on enhancinyg itsteaching focus.
UMBI President Jennie Hunter-Cevera is stepping down June 30 afte r 10 years in that She will become executive vice president of discoveryh and analytical sciences and corporate developmentfat , a Nortu Carolina nonprofit. The University System of Maryland will hono r tenure held by UMBIfacultyg members, and administrative support staffers will be able to stay in their jobs through fiscal 2010. Job opportunities at othe system campuses willbe identified, and memoranda of understanding outlining future operations and collaborations are expected to be completede by the end of this year and fully implemented by the end of fiscalk 2010.
UMBI generates about $25 million in research activity annually, and universityh system leaders hope to see that numberr increase dramatically by breaking upthe institute. “Today’s decisionz by the board provide a tremendous opportunity for the University System of Marylande to increase the volume and impact of its basic and appliecd research inthe biosciences,” said USM Chancellor William E. Kirwan in a “This restructuring has the potentiakl to double the research productivityof UMBI’s current assetas within five years.
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