Life Sciences: Wisconsin- The Smart Choice, IBM Computer, Laptops and Servers

Life Sciences: Wisconsin- The Smart Choice

Laptop Battery By WTC • 05/28/04 Editors Note: The Wisconsin Technology Council has published the first-ever magazine about Wisconsins life sciences industry. The 24-page publication highlights the states research base, technology-transfer process, company creation, quality of life, key contacts and the I-Q Corridor that joins Chicago, Wisconsin and Minneapolis-St. Paul.

The Wisconsin Technology Network has arranged to post excerpts from Life Sciences: Wisconsin The Smart Choice, over the next few weeks. Today we present part 1. Stay tuned for more chapters!

From the mind to the lab bench: Research in Wisconsin

The rules of the American economy have changed. The 19th century economy was driven by the need for bigger and better farms. Larger and more productive factories defined 20th century economics. The economy of the 21st century is being shaped by bigger and better ideas.

Those ideas often spring from the minds and laboratories of researchers in bioscience, which is the study of life and of all the living organisms human, animal, plant and microbial that share our planet. Wisconsin has the multifaceted bioscience research base necessary to compete in a global economy. Its research strengths are clustered around technologies that have the potential to save and improve lives, to clean our water and land, to more efficiently feed the world and to produce profitable goods and services.

Wisconsin is home to world-class research universities, medical schools, research and teaching hospitals and clinics, and companies that partner across public and private lines to conduct scientific research. It ranks third among all states in total federal research spending on biosciences. The mosaic is a research community with startling depth and breadth enough to accommodate the needs of researchers, investors and companies from far outside Wisconsins borders. Here is an overview:

UW-Madison

The story of bioscience research in Wisconsin begins at the University of Wisconsin- Madison, one of the largest and most comprehensive research institutions in the world. The UW-Madison consistently ranks among:

The top three public universities in the United States in all research spending ($604 million in 2003);

The top 20 worldwide for National Institutes of Health funding, and;

The top 10 for all types of bioscience research in the United States.

Did you know?

The Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at the Medical College of Wisconsin provides study and research training opportunities in basic sciences and in the interdisciplinary fields of cell and developmental biology, functional imaging, neuroscience, healthcare technology management, informatics and bioethics. More than 1,200 students are enrolled in the Medical Colleges medical education and bioscience workforce training programs. The graduate placement rate in 2003 was a perfect 100 percent. The U.S. News and World Report listed the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences among the top 50 medically-based graduate schools in the nation. In 2004, the Medical College of Wisconsin was ranked #2 in the nation for postdoctoral training by a survey conducted by The Scientist.

It is one of the few campuses in the nation that has all five biology-related schools or colleges: medicine, pharmacy, veterinary medicine, agriculture and letters and science. Within those units, the UW-Madison has 800 biosciences faculty and 10,000 ongoing research projects.

Why Wisconsin?

Wisconsin is a great place to do business because of its quality of life, and its great public schools from kindergarten to Ph.D and the University of Wisconsin System. The university receives more federal research funding than any other public university in the country. It is a national leader in biotechnology and its life science faculty is one of the largest in the country. To bring these advantages to the marketplace, the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) is ready to help any business gain access to the wealth of discoveries from the University of Wisconsin campuses. WARF is recognized nationally for its ability to work with industry, to transfer technology from the lab bench to the marketplace.
Carl Gulbrandsen
Managing Director,
Wisconsin Alumni
Research Foundation

Investment in biosciences at the UW-Madison has deep roots, from agricultural innovation in the 1890s to the origins of the first genetics department at an American university in 1918 to todays BioStar project, which will add four new research facilities at a total cost of $318 million. Many universities may claim commitment to the biosciences; the UWMadison has epitomized bioscience excellence for more than a century.

The UW-Madison Medical School, along with University Hospital and Clinics, the Waisman Center, the UW Comprehensive Cancer Center and other UW-affiliated clinical and research centers, offers extensive experience and capacity. Collectively, they include hundreds of physicians, thousands of professional clinical staff and tens of thousands of patients at any given time.

The UW Comprehensive Cancer Center was one of the nations first scientific institutions dedicated to cancer research, beginning with the founding of the McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research in 1940. Today, it is one of only 39 cancer centers designated as comprehensive by the National Cancer Institute. The internationally renowned transplant program at University Hospital and Clinics routinely ranks first or second nationally in terms of the number of successful transplant operations.

Thanks to the stem cell research breakthroughs of Dr. James Thomson, regenerative medicine is an emerging area of excellence at the UW-Madison.

The Medical College of Wisconsin

Wisconsins largest medical school is the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW), located just west of Milwaukee in Wauwatosa. This private academic institution has more than 1,000 full-time faculty. Its clinicians provide care for more than 260,000 patients annually in more than 25 healthcare facilities in southeastern Wisconsin. The Medical College of Wisconsin ranks in the top 35 percent of all medical schools in its ability to successfully compete for research funding from the National Institutes of Health. The College boasts a total annual research budget of more than $120 million.

Basic and clinical science faculty direct or collaborate on 1,500 research studies annually. These studies are conducted in 26 academic departments and 26 centers/institutes, including bioscience research centers devoted to electron paramagnetic resonance, ischemic heart disease, hypertension, proteomics, cancer, cardiovascular physiology, human and molecular genetics, bioinformatics, digestive diseases, biotechnology and bioengineering, functional imaging, diabetes, dysphagia, arthritis, and infectious disease.

In addition to the traditional disciplines, the future of bioscience is vested in emerging research areas and related workforce training. Three of these areas at the Medical College are Proteomics, Bioinformatics and Biopreparedness.

Proteomics is the study of the bodys proteins and their interactions. Proteins control fundamental activities in cells, such as generating nerve impulses, coordinating movement, and controlling growth and metabolism. Proteins are produced by genes, and by examining proteins scientists can understand how genetic factors contribute to disease. Scientists in MCWs Proteomics Center are developing new technologies for identifying and analyzing specific proteins in cells that are predictive of disease.

Bioinformatics is computational biology and mathematical modeling, and includes the study and application of methods to analyze bioscience data. Modern mathematics, computer science, and web-based collaborations are revolutionizing the field of biological research forever changing the ways researchers do their work. The Medical Colleges Bioinformatics Program is at the forefront of this sweeping transformation in biological research. Projects such as the human genome project have yielded tens of thousands of DNA and gene sequences. Figuring out what these genes do requires the skills of bioinformaticists.

The anthrax attacks of late 2001 put the scientific and public health communities in the spotlight and revealed considerable gaps in the nations ability to respond to uncommon biological agents. The Medical College of Wisconsin Center for Biopreparedness and Infectious Disease collaborates with 13 other Midwest universities. It is a coordinated effort to develop diagnostics, therapies and vaccines to combat the threat of biological agents as tools of terrorism and the importation of exotic infectious diseases.

Why Wisconsin?

EraGen, a Florida-based company, established a Madison research site in 1999 because of the areas scientific leadership. The companys headquarters was relocated to Madison in 2002 due to the excellent will of educated, creative and hard-working professionals committed to building a highly successful business. Wisconsin has a rich history of medical technology firsts; an extensive network of health-related institutions; and many notable companies, such as GE Healthcare and Promega, which offer opportunities for collaborations and partnerships. Combine that with an open and comfortable environment in which to work for example, the average commuting time is less than 30 minutes and you have a terrific state-of-business. Wisconsin has a stable yet diverse community, providing quality cultural programs year-round and a wide variety of outdoor activities.
Dr. Irene Hrusovsky
CEO, EraGen

The Marshfield Clinic

Through the Marshfield Clinic Research Foundation, the clinic has developed headlinemaking expertise in epidemiology, genetics, personalized medicine, food safety, zoonotics and clinical research. About $75 million in research is conducted at the clinic each year.

Researchers at the clinic were the first to isolate the monkeypox virus in the summer of 2003 and have become leaders in the fight against West Nile virus, chronic wasting disease in deer and Johannes disease, which can devastate cattle herds. The clinic sponsors the National Farm Medicine Center.

In one of the largest studies of its kind in the world, the clinic is recruiting 40,000 Wisconsin citizens for a personalized medicine project that will help physicians better predict illnesses and design drugs that are less risky and more effective for specific individuals. Its essentially a genomics bank that will help tailor drugs and treatments to a persons specific genetic code.

The Blood Research Institute

Tied to the Blood Center of Southeastern Wisconsin, this Milwaukee research center provides basic research in these areas: transfusion medicine and its therapies, the molecular science of immune recognition of blood cells, the molecular regulation and control of bleeding and thrombosis, cardiovascular biology and immuno-regulation.

The UW System and private colleges

In addition to the UW-Madison, Wisconsin has 12 other four-year public university campuses, and many conduct basic research in the life sciences. For example, the UW-Milwaukee is a doctoral campus known for its programs in neuroscience, aquatic biology and detection technologies that can identify cancers. The UW-Stevens Point is renowned for its environmental sciences. The UW-Stout prides itself on its ability to form research partnerships with private businesses.

Marquette University in Milwaukee has sponsored research programs in biochemistry, bioengineering, biology and physiology. The Milwaukee School of Engineering features a growing program in bioengineering.

From regenerative medicine to genetically engineered plants, from personalized medicine to proteomics, Wisconsin holds strategic advantages over many states in bioscience research. The Wisconsin Way is the successful way for bioscience researchers, investors and companies.

_________
This article was reproduced with permission, courtesy of the Wisconsin Technology Council, from their recently published Wisconsin Life Science magazine. All rights reserved.

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Life Sciences: Wisconsin- The Smart Choice

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