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

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The public university system’s Board of Regents approves Friday a sweeping restructuring ofthe (UMBI) that will parcekl out its four research centers, alontg with staff and other assets, to othe r campuses. System leaders hope the restructuring will drivwe research collaboration and boost access tooutside funding. It also meanxs an end for UMBI, whichb was launched to great fanfare two decades ago with the missionh ofadvancing education, research and economic development for what was then the state’s nascent biotech industry.
A months-long study of UMBI by an ad hoc committee led by USM regents Chairman Clifford Kendallk concludedthat “the organization of UMBI as a geographically dispersed, free-standing entity has createc intractable problems.” Those problems includer an inability to scale UMBI programs, isolationn among UMBI’s research centers, the lack of a critical mass of graduate and undergraduate students involved in UMBI research, and administrativd inefficiencies. “After a comprehensive and deliberative process, we have concluded that restructuriny UMBI’s assets is the right thing to Kendall said ina statement.
“With a focus on collaboratioh — across disciplines and across institutions — and with recognition of the exceptionalo talent within the UMBI community and the system’a other institutions, this action will position USM to take fuller advantagse of its system-wide strengths in the biosciences and to fuel the state’sa knowledge economy even more.” The move isn’g a total surprise. Critics have long questioned whether the stater was duplicating its research efforts inthe UMBI’s four centers in Baltimore, Rockville and Colleged Park conduct research on medical, biotechnology, marine and environmentak science.
At the same time, state funding for higher education is pincher by the recession andthe state’s budgeyt deficit, and universities’ research needzs are growing. Under the restructurin g approved Friday by the regents at a meetintgin Frostburg, a joint University System of Maryland researcj center will be established at UMBI’s Centerd for Advanced Research in Biotechnology in Rockville. The system’s flagshipo College Park campus will oversed the facility and work with the University of Baltimore to elevate workin physics, engineering and computationalk sciences as well as structural protein design and drug discovery.
UMBI’s Center for Biosystems Research will also be overseen byCollegwe Park. • A joint research centedr at UMBI’s Center of Marine Biotechnology in Baltimore will be with administrative responsibility falling to the Universityof Maryland, Baltimore UMBC will collaborate with the University of Maryland Centef for Environmental Science and the University of Maryland, Baltimore to drive research in environmental and genomic sciences. • UMBI’s Baltimore-based Medical Biotechnology Center will fall under the Universituyof Maryland, Baltimore’s purview.
• UMBI’e Institute of Fluorescence will be administeredby • UMBI’s K-12 educational programs will be overseen by with an eye on enhancingv its teaching focus. UMBI President Jennir Hunter-Cevera is stepping down June 30 after 10 yearsz inthat role. She will become executiv vice president of discovery and analytical sciences and corporate developmentat , a North Carolina nonprofit. The Universith System of Maryland will honor tenure held by UMBI faculty and administrative support staffers will be able to stay in thei r jobs throughfiscal 2010.
Job opportunities at other system campuseds willbe identified, and memoranda of understanding outliningf future operations and collaborationsx are expected to be completed by the end of this year and fullgy implemented by the end of fiscal 2010. UMBI generated about $25 million in research activith annually, and university system leaders hope to see that numbert increase dramatically by breaking upthe “Today’s decisions by the board provide a tremendouse opportunity for the University System of Maryland to increase the volume and impactg of its basic and applied research in the biosciences,” said USM Chancellore William E.
Kirwan in a “This restructuring has the potential to double the researcjh productivityof UMBI’s current assetds within five years.”