When the California-based Scripps Research Institute announced its intention to build an East Coast facility at Jupiter, the seeds were sown for a high-tech corridor spanning Florida’s mid section from the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic Ocean. The dream of a thriving life sciences industry sector is today a reality in four distinct clusters of private research institutes and public universities:
Tampa Bay
» University of South Florida (Tampa & St. Petersburg)
» H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute
» M2Gen
» SRI International
Orlando
» University of Central Florida
» University of Florida
» Lake Nona “medical city,” incorporating:
• Burnham Institute for Medical Research
• Nemours Children’s Hospital
• Orlando VA Medical Center
• M.D. Anderson Orlando Cancer
Research Institute
St. Lucie County
» Florida Atlantic University
» University of Florida
» Torrey Pines Institute for Molecular Studies
» Mann Research Center
» Vaccine and Gene Therapy Institute
Jupiter
» Florida Atlantic University
» Scripps Florida
»
Max Planck Institute of Bio-Imaging
Max Planck researchers discovered how the neutrophils granulocytes form a snaring network that traps bacteria.
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Catalyst for innovation
Innovation begins with the question “What if ... ?” and it is on college campuses where many of the answers are found. In Florida, university researchers are hot on the trail of new developments in many fields, including:
» Human movement — Engineering and psychology researchers at the University of South Florida are perfecting a robotic arm controlled completely by brainwaves that will give persons with paralytic conditions greater independence.
» Cancer stem cell theory — A colorectal surgeon at the University of Florida has identified a stem cell biomarker that could help researchers better evaluate the origins of colon cancer and perhaps eliminate its risk recurrence.
» Heart disease — As part of a nationwide clinical trial of alternatives to open-heart surgery, physicians at University of Miami Hospital performed a revolutionary procedure in April 2009 in which heart valves were implanted in patients using minimally invasive procedures.
» Childhood obesity — A grant from the National Institutes of Health is helping a researcher at Florida State University’s College of Medicine explore the impact of school-based screening on student fitness and parent behavior in an effort to curb childhood obesity and its possible outcome, type 2 diabetes.
» Renewable energy — The Southeast’s largest rooftop solar photovoltaic system is powering the Orange County (Orlando) Convention Center thanks to the work of researchers at University of Central Florida’s Florida Solar Energy Center.
» Oceanography — Researchers at Nova Southeastern University’s Oceanographic Center are studying coral reefs for two reasons: to make them more resilient to climate change and to learn about their structure so that the oil they contain can be extracted more efficiently.
» Homeland security — A Florida Institute of Technology team is experimenting with the use of muon radiography to detect hidden nuclear materials in incoming cargo with the goal of keeping our ports safe.
Partnerships mean progress
M2Gen, which grew from a partnership between pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co. and H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute at the University of South Florida, is proof that great things can happen when university-based research institutions and private industry collaborate.
At M2Gen, researchers are creating gene profiles from tumor tissues in order to develop highly individualized therapies for cancer treatment. To date, some 10,000 tumors have been profiled, and the first clinical trials in which patients will be matched to specific drugs based on their individual genetic makeup are about to begin.
“We’re trying to change radically the way clinical research is done,” says Dr. Timothy Yeatman, executive vice president for translational research at Moffitt and president/chief scientific officer of M2Gen. At present, clinical trials are largely conducted at regional cancer centers accessible to only a small fraction of cancer patients. M2Gen will change that, he explains, by creating the first-ever nationwide network of healthcare facilities — the Total Cancer Care Consortium — offering clinical trials. “The idea is to create a network that will become the means to refer patients to clinical trials in a smarter way,” Yeatman says.
Soaring high
Florida has a long history of high-flying achievements. The first commercial airline flight originated here in 1914 and, in the 1950s, Florida gave birth to America’s space industry; today, Florida’s aviation and aerospace cluster ranks fourth in the U.S. and employs 83,000 Floridians at more than 1,800 companies statewide.
While the shuttle program at Kennedy Space Center has long been the hub of aerospace activity, there is a larger story to tell. When the shuttles cease flying in 2010, space operations will live on. Florida is home to one of only six commercially licensed spaceports in the U.S. and supports nearly one-third of all commercial space activity worldwide. Chances are good the telecommunications you rely on to conduct business is made possible by a satellite launched from Cape Canaveral. With multiple launch pads, reentry and payload processing sites and facilities for research, manufacturing and general operations, Florida’s spaceport provides up-and-coming space technology companies a place to prosper and grow.
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