Hamilton lab official says Montana should foster biomedical growth

Montana is on the brink of becoming a haven for biomedical research, but must first do more to create a research-friendly environment, the head of the state’s oldest science lab says.

“The places that have been successful in the biomedical arena have emerged from areas where there is a tradition and history of excellence in basic and applied biomedical research,” Dr. Marshall Bloom, associate director of Rocky Mountain Laboratories http://www.niaid.nih.gov in Hamilton, told attendees of Friday’s Ideas Montana Medicine conference in Billings. “Montana has a tradition of excellence in biomedical research areas.”

The state is home to a handful of successful labs and research centers, including Rocky Mountain Labs, McLaughlin Research Institute http://www.montana.edu/wwwmri/ in Great Falls, the Montana Cancer Consortium in Billings, LigoCyte Pharmaceuticals http://www.ligocyte.com/ in Bozeman and Bacterin International http://bacterin.com/ in Belgrade.

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