Arizona Biosciences News

This August, Mesa Public Schools will enroll the first freshman class at its new Health Science High School.

Flagstaff Mayor Joe Donaldson knows a good thing when he sees it. It comes as no surprise, then, that he has been a strong supporter of the state's bioscience industry from the very start. Since that time, Donaldson has set out to guide Northern Arizona in developing its own research community—enabling the region to make its own mark on the state's bioscience landscape.

Northern Arizona leaders gathered in Flagstaff to kick off the Northern Arizona Bioscience Roadmap Steering Committee, which will drive a region-focused process to identify existing bioscience-related activity, opportunities, and challenges unique to Northern Arizona. The committee heard key findings and identified a seven-point work plan that will culminate in a Northern Arizona Bioscience Roadmap, to be released in mid-1997.

Dr. Merlin K. "Monte" DuVal, founding dean of the Arizona College of Medicine, died Tuesday, Dec. 5. Throughout both his career and retirement, DuVal was an active advocate for science and research in Arizona, leaving the state a strong legacy of service and support for the sciences.

The University of Arizona hosted a grand opening of the BIO5 Institute's Thomas W. Keating Bioresearch building and the UA College of Medicine Research Building.

The Arizona BioIndustry Association and the Arizona Department of Commerce (ADOC) have teamed with public and private partners statewide to promote Arizona's bioscience industry at BIO 2007, the world's largest annual conference and exposition devoted to the biotechnology industry.

Arizona State University has gained more than an administrator in Deirdre Meldrum. When Meldrum becomes dean of engineering in January, the university will also gain an accomplished researcher and the major-grant winning research institution that she founded. A multi-faceted scientist with an eye toward innovation, Meldrum is just the type of dynamic leader to help propel ASU along the cutting edge of science.

A partnership of 20 Arizona bioscience institutions has received a $150,000 NIH planning grant to increase patient access to new medical breakthroughs and prepare its application for a multi-million dollar NIH Clinical and Translational Science Award. In a separate development, Mayo Clinic, including its Scottsdale campus, recently received a $72 million CTSA, one of only 12 such grants awarded so far. The CTSA initiative is part of a system-wide restructuring currently underway by the NIH, and by 2012 is expected to award $500 million annually to 60 health centers.

A crowd of over 800 turned out as University of Arizona opened its Phoenix medical school campus, a restoration of the historic Phoenix Union High School buildings constructed in 1911. The medical school is a landmark collaboration between UA and Arizona State University, and is expected to become the state's largest producer of physicians.