Annual Message From The President And Chairwoman Of The North Carolina Biotechnology Center

BT Catalyst,  Dec, 2000  

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An organization like ours has to have sound programs that build and serve its client community. Once the foundational programs are in place, it is essential that the organization's management keep the community at the leading edge of technology development and emerging issues. Early on, the North Carolina Biotechnology Center established programs that were crucial to economic growth through biotechnology. The programs were designed to:

* strengthen university research and technology transfer;

* assist capital formation and infrastructure development for business and industry;

* prepare an educated workforce;

* improve public awareness of biotechnology; and

* pay attention to the future and its rapid technological changes.

With the help of an outstanding board of directors, a number of expert advisory committees and a dedicated staff, the Center in recent years has anticipated key needs and opportunities for the continued growth of the biotechnology industry. The Center has addressed these needs and opportunities through such endeavors as the Genetically Engineered Organisms Act, recruitment of commercial bioprocess manufacturing companies, the Advisory Committee on Development and Transfer of Biotechnology, Biovision 2000, the Historically Minority Universities Biotechnology Program Initiative and the North Carolina Bioscience Investment Fund.

This year the Center focused on a new frontier: forest biotechnology. Forestry is a major industry in North Carolina, employing more than 140,000 people, mostly in the rural areas of our state. Through the excellent leadership of the Center's Steven Burke and the Advisory Committee on Forest Biotechnology, an Institute for Forest Biotechnology was conceptualized. This national, nonprofit institute, to be headquartered in North Carolina, will ensure effective and responsible application of biotechnology to forestry, which will yield enormous ecological, societal and economic benefits in years to come.

The next technology opportunity will come from genomics and bioinformatics. Genomics is a rapidly growing field that discovers the function of genes, and bioinformatics is the management of that genomics data. These technologies will revolutionize agriculture through value-added crops and will greatly enhance the chemical, pharmaceutical and environmental industries. Our quality of life will continue to improve through better health, more nutritious food and a cleaner environment.

To prepare for this great opportunity, the Center is beginning to form a public/private partnership called the North Carolina Genomics and Bioinformatics Consortium. Companies, research universities, foundations and support organizations will share information and resources, form alliances and establish programs to ensure that North Carolina is a major player in the industry worldwide.

Driven by genomics and other emerging technologies, biotechnology will become the dominant technology of the 21st century, bringing enormous economic returns over the next 25-plus years. North Carolina's ability to compete globally in biotechnology will largely depend on continued State investment in the Center's programs.

The North Carolina General Assembly supports the Center on a bipartisan basis with an annual appropriation of $9.5 million, representing about 75 percent of the Center's total operating budget. The Center has been able to leverage state funds more than 15 to 1 and help establish a rigorous industry of 114 bioscience companies supported by 63 clinical research organizations and 121 equipment and supply/support companies. With sustained state investment, the future is bright for North Carolina to be in the top five states for biotechnology.

The Biotechnology Center's 2000 annual report just arrived from the printer.

Charles E. Hamner, DVM, PhD, President and Chief Executive Officer of the North Carolina Biotechnology Center

Enriqueta C. Bond, PhD, President of the Burroughs Wellcome Fund and chairwoman of the North Carolina Biotechnology Center

COPYRIGHT 2000 North Carolina Biotechnology Center
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning