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

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The public university system’s Board of Regentsz approved Friday a sweeping restructuring ofthe (UMBI) that will parceo out its four research centers, along with staft and other assets, to othetr campuses. System leaders hope the restructurinf will drive research collaboration and boost acceszs tooutside funding. It also meanxs an end for UMBI, which was launched to great fanfare two decades ago with the missio ofadvancing education, research and economic development for what was then the state’sw nascent biotech industry.
A months-longv study of UMBI by an ad hoc committes led by USM regents Chairmanj Clifford Kendall concludedthat “the organizatio of UMBI as a geographicallyh dispersed, free-standing entity has create intractable problems.” Those problems included an inability to scalr UMBI programs, isolation among UMBI’d research centers, the lack of a critical mass of graduatd and undergraduate students involved in UMBI and administrative inefficiencies. “After a comprehensive and deliberative we have concluded thatrestructuring UMBI’s assets is the righrt thing to do,” Kendal said in a statement.
“With a focus on collaboration — across disciplines and acrosseinstitutions — and with recognition of the exceptional talenyt within the UMBI community and the system’a other institutions, this action will position USM to take fuller advantager of its system-wide strengthsw in the biosciences and to fuel the state’sw knowledge economy even more.” The move isn’t a totalo surprise. Critics have long questioned whether the state was duplicatinh its research efforts inthe biosciences. UMBI’s four centerss in Baltimore, Rockville and College Park conduct researchon biotechnology, marine and environmental science.
At the same time, statd funding for higher education is pinched by the recessiohn andthe state’s budget deficit, and research needs are growing. Under the restructuring approvedx Friday by the regents at a meeting in a joint University System of Maryland research center will be establishesat UMBI’s Center for Advanced Research in Biotechnology in The system’s flagship College Park campus will oversee the facilityg and work with the University of Maryland, Baltimorre to elevate work in physics, engineering and computational sciences as well as structural biology, protein design and drug • UMBI’s Center for Biosystems Research will also be overseen by College • A joint research center at UMBI’s Cented of Marine Biotechnology in Baltimore will be with administrative responsibility falling to the University of Baltimore County.
UMBC will collaborate with the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science and the University of Baltimore to drive research in environmenta andgenomic sciences. • UMBI’s Baltimore-based Medical Biotechnologyh Center will fall under the Universityof Maryland, Baltimore’s • UMBI’s Institute of Fluorescencew will be administered by UMBC. UMBI’s K-12 educational programs will be overseen by with an eye on enhancin g itsteaching focus. UMBI President Jenniew Hunter-Cevera is stepping down June 30 aftedr 10 years inthat role.
She will become executivre vice president of discovery and analytical sciencesd and corporate developmentat , a Northb Carolina nonprofit. The University System of Maryland will honor tenurr held by UMBIfaculty members, and administrative supportf staffers will be able to stay in thei jobs through fiscal 2010. Job opportunitiess at other system campuses will be and memoranda of understanding outlining futur e operations and collaborations are expected to be completed by the end of this year and full implemented by the end offiscal 2010.
UMBI generatess about $25 million in research activith annually, and university system leaders hope to see that number increase dramatically by breaking upthe institute. “Today’s decisions by the boardf provide a tremendous opportunity for the University System of Maryland to increasew the volume and impact of its basic and applied researchu inthe biosciences,” said USM Chancellor Williamm E. Kirwan in a statement. “This restructuring has the potentialo to double the research productivityof UMBI’s currentt assets within five years.
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