Hooray for Governor Doyle,

JAMES THOMSON     had spoken to our Parkinson's Support group about 2
years ago.  He  is basically a shy guy who is self effacing  and
uncomfortable with the publicity that he has gotten. I am glad Doyle is
doing this to keep him.. Otherwise I am sure he would leave the UW for
California (and take his lab and his potential nobel prize with him) I
guess the loss of Thomson would be a political loss for Doyle that would
counterbalance the anger stirred up by the strong Right to Life lobby
here in Wisconsin.

Charles T.Meyer, MD
Middleton Wisconsin

Murray Charters wrote:

>PRESS RELEASE: WISCONSIN POISED TO INVEST $750 MILLION IN RESEARCH
>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
>11/17/2004
>CONTACT: Terry Devitt, (608) 262-8282, [log in to unmask]
>
>WISCONSIN POISED TO INVEST $750 MILLION IN RESEARCH
>
>MADISON - Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle, taking a swing at keeping
>Wisconsin competitive in the superheated world of biomedical
>research, announced today (Nov. 17) that over the next several years
>Wisconsin would invest up to $750 million, including more than $500
>million in new facilities and direct research support for scientists
>at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
>
>Speaking to reporters and technology leaders at UW-Madison's
>Biotechnology Center, Doyle outlined a strategy aimed squarely at
>bolstering Wisconsin biotechnology, health sciences and stem cell
>research.
>
>"Wisconsin leads the world in groundbreaking biomedical research, but
>we need to continue to move forward," Doyle said. "The state, in
>partnership with the university and our other private partners, has
>an aggressive and comprehensive strategy to ensure that we remain at
>the forefront not only of scientific discoveries, but of creating
>thousands of new high-tech jobs."
>
>Included in Doyle's plan are:
>
>-- A new $375 million public-private research institute, to be known
>as the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery. The proposed institute
>would occupy the entire 1200 and 1300 blocks of University Avenue and
>would become a massive interdisciplinary research center that would
>combine biology, bioinformatics, computer science, engineering,
>nanotechnology and other fields in one setting. The first phase of
>the project would use $50 million, which already had been earmarked
>for the fourth phase of the BioStar initiative.
>
>-- A new $134 million interdisciplinary research complex near
>University Hospital and Clinics. The new center would be
>translational in nature, helping bring basic research discoveries to
>clinical fruition at a more rapid pace.
>
>-- $1.5 million annually to support research on Alzheimer's disease
>at UW-Madison.
>
>-- A new $132 million research facility at the Medical College of
>Wisconsin and Children's Hospital that will focus on infectious
>disease control, cardiovascular illnesses and bioengineering.
>
>In addition, Doyle pledged to smooth the bureaucratic and legal
>hurdles that impede the ability of faculty to take their innovations
>to market, and to provide more venture capital for startup research-
>based businesses through the Wisconsin Department of Commerce.
>
>The new strategy is designed to bolster the university's science
>research infrastructure at a time when other states, notably
>California through a recently passed referendum, will begin to invest
>heavily in such things as stem cell research.
>
>Doyle and UW-Madison Chancellor John D. Wiley noted that over the
>past decade, Wisconsin has positioned itself to compete through the
>investment of more than $1 billion in new research infrastructure on
>the Madison campus. What's more, they pointed to the university's
>long-standing strengths in basic biology - biochemistry, genetics and
>molecular biology, among many others - and a tradition of
>interdisciplinary research as strengths that will help the university
>recruit and retain talented faculty.
>
>"Other states are now playing catch-up," Doyle said. "But there are a
>number of measures we're going to make to advance the work that goes
>on here."
>
>"We haven't been sitting still," said Wiley. "It is incumbent on us
>to advance this (stem cell) field."
>
>Stem cell pioneer James Thomson, a UW-Madison professor of anatomy,
>explained that with access to the human genome, biology has entered a
>new age. Stem cells, he said, are but one tool that will not only
>help biomedical science develop new treatments for conditions such as
>diabetes, Parkinson's disease and heart disease, but will help
>unravel the causes of those diseases opening a door to their
>prevention.
>
>Thomson added that Wisconsin is not just a leader in stem cell
>research, but is a powerhouse in biology in general.
>
>"We are a world leader in embryonic stem cell research at Wisconsin,
>but I'm actually fairly embarrassed at the amount of press that this
>one area of research gets, because Wisconsin is a world leader in
>most areas of biomedical research, and I don't think the average
>person in Wisconsin appreciates that," Thomson said.
>
>"We are a population of 5 million people and we have a state
>university, which is in the top 10 universities in the country -
>private or public - in biomedical research by any measure you look
>at, and that's something that people should be proud of. To maintain
>this leadership position, there has to be a continuing investment.
>There are states that are competing with us, and private universities
>that are competing with us, and I think that the initiative that the
>governor announced today goes a long way in maintaining this
>leadership position in what is really an age of discovery."
>
>Both Wiley and Doyle placed emphasis on the importance of
>interdisciplinary research and of building an institute where
>scientists from many disciplines can work together and exchange
>ideas.
>
>Biology and biotechnology have always been Wisconsin strengths, Wiley
>said, but new fields such as bioinformatics and nanotechnology have
>emerged in recent years. Creating opportunities for cross-
>fertilization between emerging and established disciplines will only
>strengthen Wisconsin's hand, he said.
>
>"All of these things are converging. That's the message for
>technology of the future."
>
>"We need teams of technologists and biologists right next to each
>other," said Biotechnology Center Director Michael Sussman. "We don't
>need them in the building down the road. We need them in the office
>across the hall."
>
>The proposed Wisconsin Institute for Discovery, he said, will
>accomplish that.
>
>###
>
>SOURCE: University of Wisconsin / University Communications
>http://www.news.wisc.edu/releases/10446.html
>
>* * *
>Murray Charters <[log in to unmask]>
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