Message from the Dean
Fueling the INGEN
The greatest promise for a healthy Indiana, both medically and economically,
lies in successful partnering with business, industry, government
and other universities to attract grants and investments for the
discovery, development and transfer of knowledge and innovation
in the life sciences.
Our bioscience and biotechnical research escalated dramatically
in 2000 when Lilly Endowment made a $105 million grant to IU to
develop the Indiana Genomics Initiative, a matrix of genomic scientists
and educators. We dubbed this program INGEN to reflect its promise
as both a scientific and an economic engine for Indiana.
For our School, this was a highlight of Lilly Endowment’s
volley of grant awards to Indiana universities, beginning in 1999
with $29.9 million to IU to develop computing research and $29.7
million to Rose Hulman Institute to establish an innovation center.
In 2001, grants were made to Purdue of nearly $48 million for Discovery
Park and two research facilities. Another $200 million in private
contributions and more than $1.1 billion in corporate investments
by Indiana health science partners have created a substantial base
to support the development of a new Indiana economy wrapped around
the life sciences.
This issue of Indiana University Medicine focuses on the progress
made by those involved in INGEN during the past two years and our
plans for the future. Success will depend on our ability to collaborate
and grow with others who are engaged in the Central Indiana Life
Sciences Initiative. Our goals are to generate commercialization
and technology transfer, venture capital funding, workforce development
and marketing to attract new industry and business.
A successful CILSI, however, needs the participation of the life
science industries, educators, researchers and businesses throughout
the state. The School’s eight medical education centers on
university campuses throughout Indiana are natural extenders of
the Indianapolis-based initiative. The statewide system hosts research
faculty who work with other scientists at IU and Purdue as well
as Notre Dame, Rose Hulman Institute, Indiana State University,
Ball State University and the University of Southern Indiana.
Our vision is to leverage the power of INGEN by engaging our medical
education centers in the formation of a statewide life sciences
initiative that will better ensure its success while positioning
our School as one of the top ten public medical schools in the United
States. Both IU’s and Indiana’s futures depend on it.
D. Craig Brater, MD
Dean and Walter J. Daly Professor
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