|
 These elements guide the Foundation's current activities and future investment in the biosciences. What will it take to position Arizona competitively in the biotechnology sector - and to do so in record time? What were the critical factors that moved other regions to the forefront of the biosciences sector - the most rapidly growing segment of the U.S. economy? What is the critical mass required for Arizona to realize prominence? What is an appropriate leadership role for a private foundation in helping Arizona realize its goals in this sector?
 To help answer these questions, we commissioned the Battelle Memorial Institute, the largest private, nonprofit organization experienced in charting economic development strategies, to help define Arizona's Bioscience Roadmap. Phoenix Mayor Skip Rimsza chairs a steering committee of elected officials, academic, business and civic leaders, and university researchers to guide this project. In addition, dozens of leading Arizona scientists and economic developers formed six workgroups to advance specific Roadmap recommendations.
The Roadmap concluded that Arizona could become a leading biosciences center in a relatively short timeframe by taking four steps:
Build Research Collaborations. Focus research efforts on existing and emerging world-class research programs by creating multi-institutional, public- and private-sector research collaborations, and pooling talent and resources within those fields, thereby expanding the potential power of single institutional approaches.
 Target Translational Research. Discoveries need to be moved from the laboratory to the patient's bedside. The partnership between TGen and our universities and healthcare institutions, plus Arizona's growing and increasingly diverse population base, offers Arizona a unique niche in medical research.
Encourage Commercialization. Put in place programs and incentives that encourage research to be turned into products to generate improved healthcare and wealth for the state and its citizens, e.g., supporting technology commercialization that can transform research into quality medical practice and give rise to a critical mass of bioscience firms.
Assist New Businesses. Secure consensus and consistency in nurturing startup firms through a combination of entrepreneurial assistance programs, investment funds, wet-lab facilities, and incentives for the formation of new startups.
| 