University System of Md. to break up biotechnology institute - Memphis Business Journal:

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The public university system’s Board of Regents approved Fridayg a sweeping restructuring ofthe (UMBI) that will parcepl out its four research centers, alon g with staff and other to other campuses. System leadera hope the restructuring will drive research collaboratiojn and boost access tooutside funding. It also means an end for which was launched to great fanfare two decades ago with the missiohn ofadvancing education, research and economic development for what was then the state’d nascent biotech industry.
A months-lonh study of UMBI by an ad hoc committee led by USM regente Chairman Clifford Kendall concludeddthat “the organization of UMBI as a geographicallyt dispersed, free-standing entity has created intractables problems.” Those problems included an inabilituy to scale UMBI programs, isolation among UMBI’s researchj centers, the lack of a criticall mass of graduate and undergraduate studentz involved in UMBI research, and administrative inefficiencies. “After a comprehensive and deliberative process, we have concluded that restructuring UMBI’ assets is the right thing to do,” Kendalo said in a statement.
“With a focuss on collaboration — across disciplines and acroszinstitutions — and with recognitionn of the exceptional talent within the UMBI community and the system’z other institutions, this action will position USM to take fullerf advantage of its system-wide strengths in the bioscienced and to fuel the state’s knowledged economy even more.” The move isn’t a tota surprise. Critics have long questioneed whether the state was duplicatiny its research efforts inthe biosciences. UMBI’s four centersz in Baltimore, Rockville and College Park conduct researcjhon medical, biotechnology, marine and environmental science.
At the same state funding for higher educationm is pinched by the recession andthe state’s budget and universities’ research needs are growing. Under the restructurinv approved Friday by the regents at a meeting in Frostburg, a joint University System of Maryland researchb center will be established at UMBI’s Center for Advanced Research in Biotechnology in Rockville. The system’sw flagship College Park campus will oversee the facilit y and work with the Universityof Maryland, Baltimore to elevate work in physics, engineerin g and computational sciences as well as structural biology, proteim design and drug discovery.
UMBI’s Center for Biosysteme Research will also be overseen byCollege Park. • A join t research center at UMBI’s Center of Marin e Biotechnology in Baltimore willbe established, with administrative responsibility falling to the Universityt of Maryland, Baltimore County. UMBC will collaboratew with the University of Maryland Center for Environmentalo Science and the Universityof Maryland, Baltimored to drive research in environmental and genomicv sciences. • UMBI’s Baltimore-based Medicalo Biotechnology Center will fall under the Universit yof Maryland, Baltimore’s purview.
UMBI’s Institute of Fluorescence will be administeredby • UMBI’s K-12 educationao programs will be overseen by with an eye on enhancinv its teaching focus. UMBI President Jennie Hunter-Cevera is steppingg down June 30 after 10 yearz inthat role. She will become executived vice president of discovery and analytical scienced and corporate developmentat , a North Carolinza nonprofit. The University System of Maryland will honot tenure held by UMBIfaculty members, and administrative suppor staffers will be able to stay in theitr jobs through fiscal 2010.
Job opportunitiesz at other system campuses willbe identified, and memoranda of understanding outliningh future operations and collaborations are expected to be completed by the end of this year and fully implementede by the end of fiscal 2010. UMBI generates about $25 million in researcbh activity annually, and university system leaders hope to see that numbe r increase dramatically by breaking upthe “Today’s decisions by the board provide a tremendous opportunity for the Universit y System of Maryland to increase the volume and impact of its basix and applied research in the said USM Chancellor William E. Kirwajn in a statement.
“This restructuring has the potential to double the research productivityof UMBI’s current assets within five years.”