Nearly 200 scientists and leaders in Arizona’s bioscience community attended the seventh-annual Arizona Biosciences Leadership Symposium in Scottsdale. Attendees shared research progress and heard the preliminary findings of six platform workgroups, each responsible for studying specific disciplines outlined in Arizon’s Bioscience Roadmap, the state’s long-term strategy to advance its biosciences sector.
Forty leading researchers, tech-transfer specialists, and economic developers presented at the October 10-11 event at the Marriott Mountain Shadows Resort. The symposium, sponsored by the Flinn Foundation and Arizona Disease Control Research Commission, featured a keynote address by George Poste, director of the Arizona Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University, exploring the challenges facing the biosciences industry.
Co-chairs of the Roadmap’s three scientific platform committees presented preliminary findings and recommendations based on their year-long work. The committees focus on bioengineering, cancer research, and neurological sciences–three areas identified in the 2002 first phase of the Roadmap as having potential for near-term excellence on a national scale. The committees are composed of representatives of the state’s universities and research institutions.
Draft recommendations from three additional workgroups studying economic development issues were also made available at the conference.
The recommendations are under further revision by the workgroups and review by Arizona’s Bioscience Roadmap Steering Committee. Formal recommendations are expected in January.
Presentations were also given on the progress of the Arizona Alzheimer’s Disease Consortium, the Arizona Biodesign Institute, the Arizona Biomedical Collaborative, the Arizona Cancer Center at Scottsdale Healthcare, the Arizona Parkinson’s Disease Research Consortium, Northern Arizona University, the Translational Genomics Research Consortium, the Southwest Autism Research & Resource Center, and the University of Arizona’s Institute for Biomedical Science and Biotechnology.
Breakout sessions focused on imaging, clinical research, translational research and technology commercialization, and working with special populations.
For more information:
Arizona’s Bioscience Roadmap workgroup white papers
https://flinn.org/bio/reports.cms#bioscience
Arizona’s Bioscience Roadmap workgroup progress reports
https://flinn.org/bio/library.cms
Arizona’s Bioscience Roadmap background
https://flinn.org/bio/library.cms