MLSC Scientific Advisory Board
convenes for first time
With enactment of $1 billion Life Sciences initiative
imminent, the Governor, House Speaker and Senate
President all greet the new panel
BOSTON – The first meeting of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center convened May 7 in the Governor’s Council Room on the third floor of the Statehouse—almost one year to the day that Gov. Deval Patrick announced his $1 billion Life Sciences initiative at BIO 2007.
The 13-member panel represents an all-star gathering of scientific genius in Massachusetts – and the world:
- Harvey F. Lodish, Chair, Ph.D., member, Whitehead Institute of Biomedical Research, Professor of Biology and Professor of Bioengineering, MIT;
- James Barry, Ph.D., Senior Vice President, Corporate Research and Advanced Technology Development, Boston Scientific Corporation
- James J. Collins, Ph.D., Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Boston University
- George Q. Daley, M.D., Ph.D., Associate Professor of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology and of Pediatrics, Children’s Hospital, Boston, Harvard Medical School, Harvard Stem Cell Institute
- Patricia K. Donahoe, M.D., Director of the Pediatric Surgical Research Laboratories and Chief Emerita of Pediatric Surgical Services, Massachusetts General Hospital; Marshall K. Bartlett Professor of Surgery, Harvard Medical School
- Lila Gierasch, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Chemistry, University of Massachusetts Amherst
- Richard A. Goldsby, Ph.D., John Woodruff Simpson Lecturer and Professor of Biology, Amherst College
- David M. Lederman, Ph.D., founder and former Chairman of the Board, Abiomed, Inc.
- Jeffrey Leiden, M.D., Ph.D., Managing Director, Clarus Ventures
- David T. Scadden, M.D., Professor of Medicine, Harvard University; Co-Chair, Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology, Harvard University; Co-Director, Harvard Stem Cell Institute; Director, MGH Center for Regenerative Medicine
- Alan E. Smith, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer, Genzyme Corp.
- Lydia Villa-Komaroff, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer, Cytonome, Inc.
- Phillip Zamore, Ph.D., Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, UMass Medical School. (For more detailed biographies of the board members, click here.)
Introducing themselves, the scientists, however, framed themselves and their work in very humble, human terms: Patricia K. Donahoe, M.D., who directed pediatric surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital for more than 20 years, introduced herself as: “I am a mother of three, and a devoted wife.”
The import of the initial meeting of the Scientific Advisory Board could be measured by the attendance and participation of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center board of directors: Daniel O’Connell, secretary of the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development, chair; Jack Wilson, president of the University of Massachusetts, vice-chair; Leslie Kirwin, secretary of Administration and Finance; Micheline M. Mathews-Roth, M.D., Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and Marc D. Beer, former president and CEO, ViaCell, Inc.
In a testament to the “brain power” gathered in the room, all the leading elected officials in Massachusetts came by to greet them and salute their work – Gov. Patrick, House Speaker Sal DiMasi, Senate President Therese Murray, and Representative Daniel Bosley, Co-Chair of the Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies.
Scientific Advisory Board Member Alan E. Smith, the chief scientific officer of Genzyme Corp., was in the middle of introducing himself to the group, when he was interrupted by the arrival of Governor Patrick, who exclaimed: “Look at all this talent in the room!”
Governor Patrick personally greeted and shook hands with each member of the Scientific Advisory Board. “I want to say thank you and express our strong support,” the Governor said. “The $1 billion Life Sciences initiative, “ he continued, “has passed both the House and the Senate and is now in conference committee.” Both the House and Senate, he said, have made significant improvements to the legislation. “I anticipate signing it into law in the new few weeks,” he said – before BIO 2008 begins in California.
Secretary Daniel O’Connell of the Executive Offices of Housing and Economic Development, the chair of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center said: “In my time here, I’ve never seen this happen before – when all these elected leaders stopped what they were doing and made time to attend a meeting.”
“I guess we can expect Senator Barack Obama to appear next,” he quipped. “To be followed by Senator Hillary Clinton,” another participant added.
The business at hand for the Scientific Advisory Board was to meet, introduce themselves to each other – although many knew of each other and had collaborated together in the past on scientific endeavors – and discuss the peer review process for the pending research matching grants applications.
The MLSC Matching Grant program had been authorized by the MLSC in October 2007, with $12 million in funding for the Legislature. The goals of the program are to expand life science research, promote economic growth and improve health outcomes in the Commonwealth. The participating academic institution will be required to make a 1:1 match of each award. The initial three Matching Grant Program solicitations include: New Investigator Research Grants, New Faculty Startup Grants, and Cooperative Research Grants. (For a detailed description of each solicitation, click here.)
Patrick Larkin, the director of the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative’s John Adams Innovation Institute, which is administering the initial matching grant program at the MLSC’s request, provided a brief overview of the process. “We are looking to increase the research capacity in Massachusetts. These awards are meant to leverage existing resources in attracting and retaining new scientific talent,” he said.
Larkin thanked both MLSC Board Member Marc Beer and SAB Chair Harvey Lodish for “pulling in chits” to assemble such a talented group of scientists to serve in an advisory capacity to the process.
Larkin then presented the panel an overview of the very positive response to two of the initial solicitations: the New Investigator Research Grants drew 34 proposals from 23 research institutions; New Faculty Startup Grants produced 12 proposals from 9 research institutions with Cooperative Research Grant proposals due in the coming days.
Gerald Greenhouse, the Director of Administration, Department of Cell Biology at Harvard Medical School, who will serve as the Scientific Review Officer for the MLSC Matching Grant Program, provided an introductory overview of the scientific peer review process, with a high-level give-and-take discussion by the board members. The first 90-minute session ended all too soon for the participants, who will reconvene in June to begin formal review discussions.
As the meeting broke up, Richard A. Goldsby, the John Woodruff Simpson Lecturer and Professor of Biology at Amherst College, said: “I hope we will have further discussion about how we can get the people of Massachusetts to be as excited about the work of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center and its Scientific Advisory Board as they are about the Red Sox and the Celtics.”
Tune in for the next meeting.