Minnesota Partnership to Recruit Top Scientists to State

Tuesday, May 08, 2007

MINNEAPOLIS/ROCHESTER, Minn. — The Minnesota Partnership for Biotechnology and Medical Genomics has begun recruiting nationally regarded medical scientists to Minnesota. Four researchers will be recruited this year; two will be hired by Mayo Clinic, the other two by the University of Minnesota. As with other Partnership activities, recruiting will be done jointly and coordinated to enhance future collaborations.

The roughly $7.5 million awarded for recruitment is part of the $15 million in operating funds provided to the Partnership by the Minnesota Legislature in its 2006 session. The money will be used to create competitive startup packages for prominent scientists, including staff salary support, equipment and laboratory supplies. The other portion of the operating funds was allocated for research projects earlier this year. The four researchers will be recruited in collaborative pairs, one pair in cancer experimental therapeutics, the other in bioinformatics and biostatistics.

"Our goal is to maintain our competitive position among the states that are trying to attract the top talent," says Eric Wieben, Ph.D., program co-director of the Partnership from Mayo Clinic. "We have two of the country's best research institutions offering exciting collaborative opportunities, but there's a lot of competition for top scientists in hot areas of research."

"This is a competitive marketplace, and we need every advantage to rise above other states and build the recruitment packages that keep Minnesota in the top tier of biomedical research states," says Mark Paller, M.D., program co-director from the University of Minnesota. "We want to be an attractive option for the leading researchers in the country and globally."

Partnership recruitment awards require that each pair of selected scientists build on the existing strengths of the Minnesota Partnership. Preference is given to recruitment proposals emphasizing innovation and translation of discoveries to patient care. Award selection also requires recruitment of researchers with national or international reputations. It is expected that each pair of researchers would have related or complementary research interests and would likely collaborate with each other.

Partnership leaders say this process adds far more than four faculty members. Each researcher would likely bring existing federal grants to Minnesota, worth several million dollars, along with the prospect of attracting additional outside funding. Also, each scientist would bring several laboratory staff members and their families to the state. The ripples from this recruitment will positively affect each institution, local and state economies, and Minnesota's reputation as a leader in biosciences, according to Partnership leaders.

Minnesota Partnership 2007 Recruitment Awards

Cancer Experimental Therapeutics
$4,000,000

This pair of faculty recruitments would support one of the major research areas of the Partnership and strengthen key research areas at each institution. The Division of Oncology Research at Mayo Clinic will seek an investigator with expertise in DNA damage-induced signaling, cell cycle regulation/checkpoint activation, and/or DNA repair. The Department of Medicinal Chemistry at the University of Minnesota will seek an investigator with expertise in x-ray crystallography of drug-protein complexes. This person would help identify novel macromolecules, potential targets for new cancer treatments.

Statistical Genetics/Genomic Biomedical Informatics
$3,567,600

This recruitment award reflects the growing need for experts in processing and analyzing the tremendous amount of data arising from genomic research. It also supports pharmacogenomics, the study of the human genome to ensure effective medication for each individual. Mayo Clinic will seek an expert in statistical genetics and bioinformatics to enhance Partnership interactions in pharmacogenomics research within the Mayo Clinic Cancer Center. The University of Minnesota will seek a biomedical informatics researcher with expertise in handling genomic data. These two positions will complement each other and greatly enhance genomic and bioinformatic collaborations between the two institutions.

The Minnesota Partnership for Biotechnology and Medical Genomics is a collaborative research initiative among Mayo Clinic, the University of Minnesota and the state of Minnesota, dedicated to advancing health and improving Minnesota's economy. To learn more about the Partnership, visit its Web site at www.minnesotapartnership.info.

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