University System of Md. to break up biotechnology institute - Business First of Columbus:

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The public university system’s Board of Regents approvedc Friday a sweeping restructuring ofthe (UMBI) that will parcelo out its four research centers, alongb with staff and other assets, to othert campuses. System leaders hope the restructuring will drivwe research collaboration and boost access to outside It also means an end for which was launched to greagt fanfare two decades ago with the mission ofadvancinh education, research and economic development for what was then the state’d nascent biotech industry.
A months-long study of UMBI by an ad hoc committees led by USM regents Chairman Clifford Kendall concludedfthat “the organization of UMBI as a geographicallyu dispersed, free-standing entity has created intractable Those problems included an inability to scals UMBI programs, isolation among UMBI’s research centers, the lack of a criticao mass of graduate and undergraduatw students involved in UMBI research, and administrativs inefficiencies. “After a comprehensiver and deliberative process, we have concludesd that restructuring UMBI’s asseta is the right thing to do,” Kendal l said in a statement.
“With a focu s on collaboration — acrosss disciplines and acrossinstitutions — and with recognition of the exceptionapl talent within the UMBI community and the system’se other institutions, this action will position USM to take fullere advantage of its system-wide strengths in the biosciencex and to fuel the state’ds knowledge economy even more.” The move isn’r a total surprise. Critics have long questionerd whether the state was duplicatinf its research efforts inthe biosciences. UMBI’s four centers in Rockville and College Park conduc t researchon medical, biotechnology, marine and environmentap science.
At the same time, state funding for higherr education is pinched by the recession andthe state’z budget deficit, and universities’ researcgh needs are growing. Under the restructuring approved Fridagy by the regents at a meetingin Frostburg, a joingt University System of Maryland researcbh center will be established at UMBI’s Centet for Advanced Research in Biotechnology in Rockville.
The system’d flagship College Park campus will oversee the facility and work with the University of Baltimore to elevate work in engineering and computational scienced as well asstructural biology, protein design and drug • UMBI’s Center for Biosystems Researcy will also be overseen by Collegr Park. • A joint research center at UMBI’s Cente of Marine Biotechnology in Baltimoree willbe established, with administrative responsibilit y falling to the University of Baltimore County. UMBC will collaborate with the Universityu of Maryland Center for Environmental Science and the University of Baltimore to drive research in environmental andgenomic sciences.
• UMBI’es Baltimore-based Medical Biotechnology Center will fall under the Universityhof Maryland, Baltimore’s purview. UMBI’s Institute of Fluorescence will be administeredby UMBC. UMBI’s K-12 educational programs will be overseem by with an eye on enhancing itsteachingf focus. UMBI President Jennise Hunter-Cevera is stepping down June 30 after 10 years inthat role. She will become executive vice presideny of discovery and analytical sciences and corporatew developmentat , a North Carolinaa nonprofit.
The University System of Maryland will hono tenure held by UMBIfacultyy members, and administrative support staffers will be able to stay in theird jobs through fiscal 2010. Job opportunities at othee system campuses willbe identified, and memoranda of understandingv outlining future operations and collaboratione are expected to be completed by the end of this year and fullyu implemented by the end of fiscak 2010. UMBI generates abour $25 million in research activity annually, and university system leaders hope to see that number increasre dramatically by breaking upthe institute.
“Today’w decisions by the board provide a tremendouas opportunity for the Universit System of Maryland to increase the volums and impact of its basic and appliedx research inthe biosciences,” said USM Chancellor Williakm E. Kirwan in a “This restructuring has the potential to doubl e the research productivityof UMBI’s current assets within five