SSTI Digest

The Tennessee Biotechnology Association has changed their name to Life Science Tennessee.

Ann Arbor SPARK recently added Bill Mayer as director of their business accelerator team.

Fred Mondragón, New Mexico's economic development secretary announced that he is retiring. Gov. Bill Richardson has appointed Allan Oliver, the deputy secretary of economic development, to replace Mondragón during the final weeks of the administration.

Robert Rosenbaum has been appointed president and executive director of the Maryland Technology Development Corporation. John Wasilisin has been serving as acting president and executive director since Renée Winsky stepped down in July 2009 to become CEO of the Tech Council of Maryland. Wasilisin will now shift to a role as executive vice president and chief operating officer.

Craig Dye was named director of the Mtech VentureAccelerator Program, a fast-track, early admission program tied to Mtech's Technology Advancement Program.

The Minnesota High Tech Association announced Margaret Anderson Kelliher, speaker of the Minnesota House, will assume the role of president of the Association beginning in January after she leaves public office.

Matthew Portnoy of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences will serve as acting SBIR/STTR coordinator for the National Institutes of Health.

Sheri Stickley is president & CEO of the Oklahoma Bioscience Association. Ms. Stickley previously served as Deputy Director for Strategic Planning & Initiatives at Oklahoma Department of Commerce.

Former Kentucky Commerce Cabinet Secretary George Ward was named executive director of the University of Kentucky Coldstream Research Campus.

Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley recently announced a new effort to direct $100 million to public and private venture capital investors. The InvestMaryland program would offer insurance companies tax credits to generate the funds, which would either be invested directly in startup companies or in private venture firms. Governor O'Malley's current proposal would provide $50 million to the Maryland Venture Fund and the other $50 million to venture capital firms. The state's Department of Business and Economic Development plans to work with legislators, businesses and universities to draft a bill for next year's legislative session.

JDG Associates, Executive Search Consultants, has been retained by the suburban Maryland-based National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to recruit two key leaders: The Director for Innovation and Industry Services will focus on technology transfer and commercialization along with the fostering of public/private partnerships and joint ventures; and, The Director, Laboratory Programs will be wearing two hats: 1) leading the six NIST laboratories (2000 staff) and 2) serving as the Principal Deputy to Pat Gallagher-- the NIST Director. The ideal candidate for this position will have either managed a complex, multi-disciplinary scientific laboratory comprised of a minimum of several hundred staff OR be a world-renowned scientist who is interested in leveraging his/her background and reputation to further the NIST mission.

These are high-visibility c-suite positions within a rapidly-growing federal organization.

Jeff Blodgett, Vice President of Research, at the Connecticut Economic Resource Center, Inc. is retiring.

The University of Virginia has named W. Mark Crowell, vice president for business development at The Scripps Research Institute, to the newly created position of executive director and associate vice president for innovation partnerships and commercialization.

Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley will receive the BIO Governor of the Year Award this week at the 2010 BIO International Convention.

Guido Silvestri will serve as chief of the Division of Microbiology and Immunology at Emory University's Yerkes National Primate Research Center as a Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar.

Maryland legislators recently passed the FY11 budget, allocating $10.4 million for stem cell research and $8 million for tax credits for biotechnology companies. Many of the appropriations follow closely in line with Gov. Martin O'Malley's recommendations, which aim to support the Maryland BIO 2020 initiative, a statewide plan investing in biotechnology over 10 years.

The Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO) will receive $15.85 million in FY11, $115,000 more than the FY10 appropriation. Although $12.4 million is allocated for the Stem Cell Research Fund, $2 million is earmarked for the Maryland Biotechnology Investment Tax Credit Reserve Fund within the Department of Business and Economic Development.

Created to spur investment in Maryland biotech companies, the Biotechnology Investment Tax Credit Reserve Fund also will receive $6 million from the general fund for a total $8 million in FY11, a $2 million increase from last year.

TEDCO also will receive $3.45 million to administer its technology development, transfer and commercialization programs, a slight increase from the FY10 adjusted appropriation of $3.4 million.

A competition for high-risk, high-reward research funding recently was announced under the Technology Innovation Program (TIP). The goal is to improve critical manufacturing processes that reduce costs, save time, increase quality or reduce waste to dramatically improve the competitiveness of process-based industries, including the biomanufacturing sector, which produces vaccines and other biopharmaceuticals. To fund the program in its first year, $25 million may be available for up to 25 projects. The deadline to apply is July 15. Proposals are sought in three areas, which are described in greater detail at: http://www.nist.gov/public_affairs/releases/20100413_TIP_comp_announce.html

Bryan Allinson has joined Ohio University as director of technology transfer.

Martha Connolly, director of the Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute Maryland Industrial Partnership program (MIPS) at the University of Maryland, was given the President's Award at the Greater Baltimore Committee's fifth annual Bioscience Awards ceremony. In 2007, the MIPS program received an SSTI Excellence in TBED Award in the Improving Competitiveness of Existing Industries Category.

Stephen Cross has been selected as Georgia Tech's executive vice president for research. Cross has served as vice president and director of the Georgia Tech Research Institute since 2003.

Grants made for stem cell research projects in 2008 through the Maryland Stem Cell Research Commission and the Maryland Technology Development Corporation yielded a return of nearly $3 million to state and local governments and supported more than 500 high-paying jobs, finds a recent impact report. A total $38 million was awarded to researches in 2007 and 2008 following the passage of the Maryland Stem Cell Act of 2006 and Gov. Martin O'Malley's $1.3 billion BIO 2020 Initiative in 2008, which includes $20 million per year for stem cell research. The study concludes that returns are expected to multiply over time because of the cumulative aspect of scientific knowledge and fast pace of industry expansion. Read the impact report: http://www.mscrf.org/_media/client/pdf/Sage_stem_cell_program_impacts_Final.pdf

The fourth installment of SSTI's Tech Talkin' Govs series includes excerpts from speeches delivered in Alaska, Connecticut, Maryland, Michigan, Nevada, and Oklahoma. The first three installments are available in the Jan 13, Jan. 20 and Jan. 27 Digests.

Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell, State of the State Address, Jan. 20, 2010 "We will create even more jobs by funding construction of two new statewide buildings, the Anchorage crime lab I mentioned earlier and we will construct the Life Sciences building at [the University of Alaska, Fairbanks]. …

"… Where energy is concerned, we will continue reducing dependency on diesel across Alaska. And we are putting $25 million toward more in-state renewable energy projects. …

The National Institute of Standards and Technology is seeking qualified applicants for the director of the Technology Innovation Program (TIP). The director will serve as the executive responsible for managing and leading this critical program for NIST. The TIP was established as part of the America COMPETES Act (P.L. 110-69) to assist United States businesses and institutions of higher education or other organizations, such as national laboratories and nonprofit research institutions, to support, promote, and accelerate innovation in the United States through high-risk, high-reward research in areas of critical national need. This position is perfect for you if you are ready for a challenge and are committed to making significant improvements in the operations of one of the world's premier research and science organizations.

Sandy Baruah has been selected to become the president and CEO of the Detroit Regional Chamber, effective March 15.

John Collar, the chief executive officer and president of the Colorado BioScience Association, resigned this week to pursue other business opportunities. Denise Brown has been selected serve as the organization's interim executive director while a search is conducted for Collar's replacement.

Ruth Cox has been named the executive director of the U.S. Fuel Cell Council.

Josh Lerner has been selected as the 2010 recipient of the Global Award for Entrepreneurship Research.

Marc Stanley is retiring as acting deputy director of National Institute of Standards and Technology. Stanley has served as director of the Technology Innovation Program (TIP) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology since December 31, 2007