2007 Life Science Summit Highlights New York State's Initiatives in the Bioscience Industry

The 2007 Long Island Life Sciences Summit, held on June 14th at the Hilton Long Island in Melville, New York, was a resounding success. The Center for Biotechnology, in partnership with the Long Island Life Sciences Initiative (LILSI), hosted more than 320 business leaders, representing 100 different organizations.

The event highlighted issues of strategic importance for the continued growth of the regional life science community, including access to capital, business development strategies, emerging technologies, regulatory affairs, and clinical development strategies. This year, two new special interest tracks were added to the Summit program - a Bioscience Professional Development track, for individuals looking to advance their careers in the Life Sciences, and a Human Resources track, dedicated to addressing the industry’s future demand for talent. A special ceremony to celebrate the graduation of 49 students from the Fundamentals of the Bioscience Industry Program was held during the luncheon keynote session.

Edward Reinfurt, the new Acting Executive Director of the New York State Foundation for Science, Technology and Innovation, provided opening remarks. Mr. Reinfurt emphasized Governor Spitzer’s commitment to innovation. Referring to Gov. Eliot Spitzer, Reinfurt said, "He (Governor Spitzer) talks about strategic industries and strategic partnerships. The key is investing in the people that are driving the technology." Reinfurt stated that such investments will lead to increased job growth, recruitment of world renowned academic talent to colleges and universities, increased collaborations among academic disciplines and the private sector, foster interest in the sciences among students throughout the State, and result in the recognition of New York as a world-renowned leader in the technologies we invest in. Following opening comments, the panels throughout the morning and the afternoon discussed investment strategies for angel investors, funding sources for emerging companies, corporate business models, emerging technologies, human resources, career development strategies and forging intrastate research collaborations.

The Summit was successful in providing a forum for discussing State initiatives that will dramatically affect the industry. The luncheon keynote address was a call to action for industry to help guide the implementation of a statewide consortium for computational science. Eight of the State’s leading academic institutions, including. Stony Brook University, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Columbia University, New York University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, University at Albany, University at Buffalo, and Cornell University, have proposed the consortium as a mechanism to propel New York State to the forefront of high performance computing. The consortium will build upon two new 100 teraflop IBM Blue Gene/L super computers - two of the largest supercomputers available in the world for non-classified research. Dr. Robert McGrath, Provost of Stony Brook University and Vice President of Brookhaven National Laboratory Affairs, stated that these resources can be used to significantly reduce the amount of time it takes products to reach the market, lowering their cost and rapidly bringing life saving technologies into the hands of patients. Dr. McGrath stated that the use of these resources requires industry guidance in collaboration with academic institutions and requested that interested companies take a proactive role in this initiative. The importance of this initiative is reflected in the media coverage following the Summit by Newsday, The New York Times and WCBS-TV.

The closing keynote address, delivered by David Ewing Duncan, best selling author and co-host of National Public Radio’s Biotech Nation, generated awareness that we should not let fear of the moral and ethical implications of advancing biotechnology prevent us from developing new technologies. As a society, we need to embrace innovation, and be proactive in developing the proper controls to ensure that new technology is managed well to provide the greatest possible benefit to society.

Closing remarks provided by Clinton T. Rubin, Ph.D., Director of the Center for Biotechnology & Distinguished Professor and Chair of Biomedical Engineering at Stony Brook University, emphasized that New York State has the physical and intellectual resources available to make New York a world leader in commercializing technologies in the Life Sciences. Dr. Rubin urged continued investment into the industry and an increased collaboration between government, industry and academia to see this to fruition. “We need the State, our academic institutions, and the bioscience industry, to seize the opportunity by investing in the translation of biomedical discoveries into the commercial sector where they can benefit mankind.”

With the success of the Summit this year, the Center for Biotechnology and LILSI have begun planning next year’s Summit to be held in June 2008. To best address the needs of the Life Science’s industry, industry’s involvement is greatly encouraged. Please contact the Center for Biotechnology at 631-632-8521 for more information on the 2008 Summit and sponsorship opportunities.