Nano Bio Fund Aims to Put Maryland at the Forefront of the Next Biotech Revolution
Annapolis Reception to Highlight USM's
Nano Bio Research, Jan. 15
ADELPHI, Md. (January
14, 2008) - Since
2005, a little known state fund has been nurturing Maryland's "small
scale" revolution in health research and bioengineering.
The Nano Bio Fund, administered through a partnership of the Maryland
Department of Business and Economic Development (DBED) and the
University
System of Maryland (USM), is sponsoring research across the university
system
that integrates the fields of nanotechnology and biotechnology to
propel Maryland to the forefront of this next technological and
economic wave.
DBED and USM look forward to
a third year of State support in FY 2009 and are hosting a reception in
Annapolis on Tuesday, January 15, 2008, to introduce legislators to the
promise
and the results of Nano Bio Fund-sponsored research. The reception will
held
from 5:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. in Room 170 of the Lowe House Office
Building, 6 Bladen Street, Annapolis. USM Chancellor William E. Kirwan and DBED
Secretary David Edgerley
will be joined by Governor Martin O'Malley, who will announce his biotech funding proposal for FY 2009.
"Maryland is undoubtedly poised to become a national leader in
the rapidly emerging industry of nano-biotechnology," said Governor O'Malley.
"With a workforce of professionals and technicians ranked number one in the
nation, unprecedented state investment in bioscience infrastructure, and
leading private, state, and federal research institutions, we can expect
remarkable life-saving discoveries as we simultaneously strengthen our
workforce and economy."
"The merger of nanotechnology
and biotechnology has created what is perhaps the most exciting scientific and
economic development opportunity since the information technology revolution,"
said Chancellor Kirwan, whose advocacy was critical to the
creation of the fund. "Maryland
has the enviable advantage of being an R&D powerhouse with federal labs and
agencies in close proximity, world-recognized research institutions, and a
private sector poised to commercialize scientific advances. The fund is vital
to making Maryland a world leader in the emerging nano-biotechnology
arena."
Established by the State of Maryland in FY 2007, the Nano Bio Fund
has provided a total
$4.9 million for 11 research projects at the University of Maryland,
College Park (UMCP); University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC);
University of Maryland Biotechnology
Institute (UMBI); and the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB).
The fund, which is overseen
by the Maryland NanoCenter at UMCP's A. James Clark School of Engineering, is
leveraging its state support and has stimulated additional outside research
grants. In 2006, the Robert W. Deutsch Foundation gave more than $1 million to
fund a cross-disciplinary group of researchers from the Clark School, UMBI, and the University of Maryland School of
Pharmacy working to develop a nanoscale biochip that will serve as a tiny drug
discovery laboratory.
Nano-biotechnology unites the
field of nanotechnology-engineering devices and materials at the level of
molecules and atoms-with fields such as medical diagnosis, pharmaceutical
development and delivery, environmental science, and biodefense to create new
"smart" materials and technologies that can work at the microscopic scale of a
cell or smaller. Nano-biotechnology promises to make medical cures and
therapies more "tailored" and targeted to patients' needs; early detection and
prevention of disease more precise; and the monitoring and remediation of
environmental toxins more effective.
"Venture analysts believe the
first broad applications of nanotechnology technologies and products
will
likely come in the medical field," said Brian Darmody, USM's special assistant vice chancellor for technology development. "Maryland is well-suited
to capitalize on this sector, given
the large academic health centers in Baltimore and the strong
engineering and nanotechnology
programs and resources at College Park, UMBC, the National Institute of
Standards and Technology in Gaithersburg, and the National Institutes
of Health in Bethesda."
For more information about
nano-biotechnological research across USM, visit the following sites:
Center for Nanomedicine
and Cellular Delivery at University of Maryland, Baltimore
Medical
Biotechnology Center at University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute
Maryland NanoCenter at University of Maryland, College
Park
Contact: John Buettner
Phone: 301.445.2719
Email: jbuettner@usmd.edu
