Did you know Arizona’s Bioscience Roadmap was created in 2002? The Flinn Foundation commissioned the document to help identify opportunities for the state within the bioscience industry. Flinn hired Battelle Technology Partnership Practice to study its potential and found Arizona possessed many of the essential elements needed to become a global leader in niche areas of the biosciences.
It was a natural emphasis for the Foundation, which was created in 1965 by Dr. Robert and Irene Flinn in part to help Arizona’s traditional health care industry keep up with a booming population. Dr. Flinn was a cardiologist who headed the departments of cardiology and electrocardiography at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Phoenix and was co-founder and first president of the Arizona affiliate of the American Heart Association.
During the Roadmap’s first decade, Arizona strengthened its research infrastructure and expanded efforts to commercialize research into products, jobs, and companies. The state grew its industry base and became one of the nation’s fastest-growing bioscience states.