New funding for scientists will end after three years unless state lawmakers approve the rest of Governor Patrick’s life sciences plan.
Tinker Ready
Gov. Deval Patrick’s $1 billion plan to boost life sciences research and development began to take shape Thursday with the approval of $12 million in matching grants for Massachusetts scientists and $7.7 million for a new stem-cell bank and registry at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.
The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, a group of state officials and appointees chaired by Daniel O’Connell, the state secretary of housing and economic development, approved three proposed grant programs:
– up to $250,000 per year for researchers collaborating with Massachusetts-based companies, with a February 1 deadline for applications;
– up to $250,000 per year for universities to recruit top scientists from outside the state, with a March 14 application deadline;
— up to $100,000 per year for young researchers without substantial funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) or other sources, with applications due May 1.
The researcher’s institution or industry sponsor would be required to match each grant dollar for dollar. The panel scrapped an earlier proposal to offer funding to scientists whose grant applications were highly ranked but went unfunded by the NIH.
The Life Sciences Center will be able to fund the first three years of the matching-grants program and the first year of the stem-cell bank because the legislature added a year-end allocation of $15 million to the existing $10 million budget for the center.
But the legislature must approve the rest of Patrick’s 10-year, $1 billion plan for these initiatives to continue.
Mini NIH
The Life Sciences Center handed management of the grants to the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MTC), a quasi-public agency that runs several technology-oriented economic development programs in the state. The MTC plans to set up a peer-review system for grant applications, modeled after the systems used by the NIH and National Science Foundation, says MTC’s deputy director, Patrick Larkin. The board of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center will have final say over all grants. The MTC will select top in-state and out-of-state researchers in relevant fields to serve on those review panels, says Larkin. Each university will be limited to two applications per year for each of the grant programs.
“We’re requiring the universities to sign off on these proposals, to make the selection as to who they believe are truly distinguished,” Larkin says.
The stem-cell bank and registry, to be located at the UMass Medical School in Worcester, could open in 8 to 12 months, according to Michael Collins, the school’s vice president for health sciences. The bank would be a central repository for human embryonic stem-cell lines.
Moving the bill
The state legislature has scheduled a Tuesday hearing on the life sciences bill filed by Patrick in July, which includes the creation of an RNA interference research center and the lowering of taxes for the biotech industry. Patrick recently expressed frustration with how slowly his bill was moving through the legislature.
“We are very heartened by the fact that the committee hearing has been scheduled,” says O’Connell, the state secretary of housing and economic development. “That means that the legislation is moving forward.”
O’Connell says he expects the legislature will approve the bill by the end of the year.
Biotech companies and researchers have joined with Patrick’s staff in recent weeks in lobbying for the bill. In addition, the MTC is holding meetings statewide at universities, corporate offices, and hospitals to promote the bill.
Editor’s note (October 29, 2007): A correction was made. The matching-grants program will be funded for the first three years, not one year, until Gov. Patrick’s life sciences bill is passed by the state legislature.
See related article: State research funding to roll out soon