Five questions for Rosemary DePaolo

BT Catalyst, May-June, 2005

Dr. Rosemary DePaolo became the third chancellor and sixth leader of the University of North Carolina at Wilmington (UNCW) in July 2003. She is the first woman to head the university. Since her arrival, DePaolo has engaged the university community in a pivotal benchmarking and strategic planning initiative to further enhance the overall educational experience for students, faculty and staff. She is also actively involved in several initiatives to improve the university's outreach efforts with the City of Wilmington, the Greater Wilmington Chamber of Commerce and various southeastern North Carolina counties.

What areas of biotechnology will the University of North Carolina at Wilmington seek to specialize in and why?

The state of North Carolina is one of 20 states along with the Great Lakes states with a coastline. The ocean and its products are an important element of the North Carolina economy. I believe there is an opportunity to expand further the economic return we can obtain from our ocean resources. UNCW seeks to take advantage of our ocean resources by exploring three areas of marine biotechnology:

Mariculture--Research in this area can help sustain harvestable marine species such as flounder and black sea bass.

Biosensor technology--Monitor the health of our ocean and intracoastal waterways by using detectors that can warn of pollution, the approach of harmful algal blooms, the invasion of new species, and other possible threats.

Potential drug discovery--By examining cultured marine microbes obtained from the ocean, the potential for new drugs is possible. The ocean, with its immense biodiversity, appears to offer a great potential source of new leads for the pharmaceutical industry.

Our scientists, working with our exceptional students, are placing their research emphasis on organisms that will yield value-added products. Examples include drugs from the sea like the cystic fibrosis therapeutic agents, nutraceuticals like omega fatty acids as dietary supplements and food fishes from mariculture. Through our various marine biotechnology initiatives, I think our efforts will help advance the state of North Carolina.

Tell us about the Center for Marine Science at UNCW, its rapid recent expansion, and the future plans for its role within the community.

The Center for Marine Science is a concept coming to fruition. The Center is a true interdisciplinary program within the university, and provides ready research opportunities for our faculty, visiting faculty, graduate and undergraduate students, and postdoctoral associates. Core resources and other research-enhancing activities and facilities have been developed to optimize the Center for creative endeavors. Interdisciplinary research has been emphasized through unique projects, and shared equipment is purchased on an annual basis. Arguably, the spectroscopy core facility is one of the finest in the Southeast, and the laboratories more resemble biomedical and molecular laboratories than field marine laboratories.

The future for the Center is extremely bright. Our dedicated faculty is carrying out compelling work at UNCW. A variety of graduate science programs help complement the marine sciences faculty at the university. An exceptional postdoctoral program titled "The Business of Marine Biotechnology" promises to set the collaborative standard for an MBA from the Cameron School of Business with intense laboratory experience in marine biotechnology laboratories at the Center. In addition, there are ample opportunities for our undergraduate students to participate in research side-by-side with faculty and graduate students.

The Center also provides a valuable resource to the community through its public lecture series called Planet Ocean, a series that has entertained presentations by various national leaders in science research. These public lectures are aimed at presenting science in a readily-understandable format, as well as to provide an overview of how our Federal tax dollars are administered and spent by agencies for basic and applied research.

What role will the universities and community colleges play in the development of biotechnology in the coastal areas? Are there already partnerships between your local community colleges and UNC-Wilmington in certain areas of biotechnology?

Universities and community colleges play a critical role, especially when they collaborate. UNCW is already collaborating in the three areas of marine biotechnology with several North Carolina universities and community colleges, such as North Carolina State University, East Carolina University, Brunswick Community College, and Robeson Community College. We are also conducting research with universities elsewhere in the United States and beyond. Currently, one of the world's leading marine science researchers from Japan is visiting us for two years to conduct research with our faculty and students.

These collaborative research efforts present an excellent opportunity for entrepreneurs and venture capitalists to collaborate actively with universities and community colleges in order to realize the maximum benefit from marine biotechnology. The synergy I'm seeing in Wilmington already is surprising and gratifying.