Opportunity in the Heartland
The IU School of Medicine will be at the forefront of a venture
whose goal is to transform central Indiana into a corridor of life
sciences and biotechnology research and development.
Roughly 115 miles of rich farmland separate Bloomington and West
Lafayette, small cities with giant public universities that are
recognized leaders in medicine, biomedical research and technology.
At various points in between, particularly in the Indianapolis area,
are both well-established and emerging private laboratories as well
as emerging research and biotechnology centers, and the second-largest
medical school in the nation. This central Indiana corridor is fertile
ground for science and the state's economy, and promises a bountiful
harvest with the creation of a powerful new public and private collaboration.
Indiana University and its School of Medicine will be an integral
component of the Central IndianaLife Sciences Initiative (CILSI),
a public/private coalition designed to develop the region as a world-class
health and life sciences hub. The non-profit partnership also brings
together IU, Purdue University, the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership,
the City of Indianapolis, and the Indiana Health Industry Forum.
"Indiana University will help the region lead the world in
life sciences - not only through its strong research faculty and
infrastructure, but also through technology transfer and venture
capital," said IU President Myles Brand, PhD, speaking at a
Feb. 13 news conference at the IU Cancer Research Institute where
the initiative was unveiled.
"We are committed to positively impacting the state's economic
development and increasing the quality of life for its residents,"
added President Brand, who is among a core group of CILSI leaders,
including Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson, Purdue University President
Martin Jischke, CICP president David Goodrich, and Sidney Taurel,
chairman, president and chief executive officer of Eli Lilly and
Company.
The life sciences industry encompasses a broad range of disciplines
and services, including hospitals, laboratories, pharmaceuticals,
medical devices and instruments, organic and agricultural chemicals,
and food and nutrition, all of which are built on the foundation
of biomedical research.
The CILSI partnership anticipates investing at least $1.5 billion
in the "life sciences corridor" of central Indiana over
the next five years to support construction projects, retain and
attract a highly skilled life sciences workforce, and to develop
successful collaborations to build a research community in downtown
Indianapolis. CILSI represents an extension of the School of Medicine's
vision and ongoing commitment to promote its research, clinical
care and education objectives, notes D. Craig Brater, MD, IUSM dean
and Walter J. Daly Professor.
Shared Vision
"The goals we have articulated in our own strategic plan are
now embraced by a much larger audience, namely the corporate leadership
of central Indiana and the elected leadership of Indianapolis,"
Dr. Brater said. "Certainly, this will help IUSM pursue its
goal to be among the top ten public medical schools in this country.
Moreover, the School of Medicine with its eight Centers for Medical
Education offers a logical platform for extrapolating this initiative
statewide."
A February 2002 study conducted by the Battelle Memorial Institute
underscores central Indiana's potential to become a major player
in the life sciences arena. The institute says central Indiana has
"significant existing assets to be a major world player in
life sciences," emphasizing that the life sciences industry
already is Indiana's largest private employer, with a workforce
estimated at 82,000. Further, the state ranks second nationally
in the production and sales of surgical and orthopedic devices and
fifth in pharmaceutical sales.
A critical part of the CILSI is the IU-based Indiana Genomics Initiative,
which was established in December 2000 with a $105 million gift
from the Lilly Endowment, Inc. INGEN seeks to further understanding
of the human genome, research that might later translate into cures
and improved treatment for a host of clinical disorders. In addition
to the seventy-five new research positions to be created by INGEN,
the School estimates it will hire fifty new faculty researchers
related to CILSI. These additional faculty will double the research
productivity of the School and in so doing establish about 6,500
new jobs for the state.
Also central to CILSI's success is the partnering of IU's Advanced
Research Technology Institute with the Purdue Research Foundation
and Eli Lilly to form the private, non-profit company, the Indiana
Proteomics Consortium. With a seed investment of $12 million over
the next three years, the consortium's researchers will develop
new instruments and analytical tools which ultimately could lead
to the development of new and improved drugs.
Future Dividends
Proteomics, which is an essential core of INGEN, is the study of
proteins produced under the instructions of a gene. Understanding
the role of proteins in health and disease will allow new and better
therapies. Additionally, proteins themselves may be used to treat
patients much in the way synthesized insulin is used to combat diabetes.
Purdue's participation in the CILSI includes construction of the
Birck Nanotechnology Center, advanced programming services and a
drug manufacturing facility at Purdue's Discovery Park. "Our
university's strength in the scientific and technological disciplines
will add much to this initiative, and in the process we will be
a better university," observed President Jischke.
A large part of the initial capital investment already is in place.
Eli Lilly and Co. has committed to spend $1 billion on new research
facilities and laboratories, and company officials say that the
investment will result in 7,500 life sciences-related jobs.
Helping guide the life sciences initiative is the Central Indiana
Corporate Partnership with staff support coming from the City of
Indianapolis and the Indiana Health Industry Forum, a non-profit
association of health-related companies from around the state. The
city and IHIF will provide initial funding of $1 million.
"Central Indiana can set the standard for this high-tech,
high-growth industry in the 21st century," said Indianapolis
Mayor Bart Peterson. "From our world-class companies to our
outstanding universities and our groundbreaking research projects,
Indianapolis is poised to become an international leader in life
sciences."
For more information about the Central Indiana Life Sciences Initiative,
go to www.cilsi.com. Information
about IU's Indiana Genomics Initiative can be found at www.ingen.iu.edu.
Ready Resources
Indiana University, IUSM and Clarian Health already possess many
of the resources, or soon will, to fuel the success of the Central
Indiana Life Sciences Initiative:
$154 million in building projects at IUSM over the next four years,
including $25 million for the Biomedical Research and Training Center
to open later this year; the $30 million Stark Neurosciences Research
Institute projected to open in early 2003; the $24 million Information
Sciences Building; and plans for a $75 million, 250,000-square foot
building that allows for substantial expansion of cancer research
$50 million to $100 million in venture capital managed by the Indiana
University Foundation and dedicated to life sciences development
in central Indiana
$65 million for the Clarian Health Partners Clinical Laboratory
Services Building, housing clinical pathology services for IU, Methodist
Hospital and Riley Hospital for Children (expected to break ground
in 2003 with a target completion in 2005)
$34 million for a monorail constructed by Clarian, connecting the
IU Medical Center and Methodist Hospital
$20 million for IU's Advanced Research Technology Institute to
build a business incubator dedicated to aid life sciences companies
IU's recent installation, through the INGEN grant, of the IBM SP
supercomputer, the largest university super computer in the United
States
IU's School of Informatics, which gives researchers and health-care
professionals the means to use information through the mapping of
the human genome and advanced diagnostic and treatment tools
The Abilene Project at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis,
a high-performance Internet2 research and education network
Regenstrief Institute Medical Records System on the IUPUI campus,
an integrated patient information system that is the largest of
its kind in the country
The IU Cyclotron Facility at Bloomington, which can evaluate DNA
damage and repair and developmental biology
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