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Arizona State leaders land genomics consortium

After years of missed opportunities, Arizona
leaders pulled together to grab a 21st-century
brass ring: an international biotech research
group.

Jodie Snyder and Kerry Fehr-Snyder
The Arizona Republic

State leaders formally announced Wednesday that Jeffrey Trent, a
well-known genetics researcher, will move to Arizona to lead the
International Genomics Consortium and to head an affiliated research
group.

"It’s a great day in Arizona, and right now Arizona needs a great day," Gov.
Jane Hull said.

For five months, the state has engaged in an all-out effort to raise money
and develop the research arm of the consortium. So far, about $90 million
has been raised, primarily from the state, Phoenix and charitable
foundations, to fund the facility, which will be called the Translational
Genomics Research Institute. An additional $27 million has been
committed for the consortium’s headquarters.

The research institute, to be built at Fifth and Fillmore streets, will be
staffed by consortium scientists and university professors who may patent
research and develop commercial uses.

Economic development leaders believe that as the institute grows it will
attract other biotech firms and create spinoff companies with high-paying
jobs.

Trent said he chose Arizona because "quite simply, it’s the people." A
graduate of Arcadia High School, Trent earned graduate degrees at the
University of Arizona, where he maintains personal and professional
relationships.

Friendships aside, Trent had to justify moving the consortium to Arizona,
which, at times, seemed like a long shot.

"The odds were against us," said Rep. Jim Weiers, R-north Phoenix. That’s
primarily because the state lags in biotech development.

But Arizona’s response to the project was "extremely compelling," Trent
said.

Officials had considered postponing Wednesday’s announcement in light
of the wildfires raging in the northeastern part of the state.

"I recognize many Arizonans aren’t thinking about the economy, they aren’t
thinking about genomics, and they aren’t thinking about cancer," he said.
But Trent said he expects that to change eventually when residents see
how genetic research can lead to earlier diagnosis of diseases, better
treatments and even cures.

At Wednesday’s news conference, Trent said he and others would launch
a 100-day plan to develop the institute.

In the first 100 days, Trent said he wants to hire 15 to 25 research staffers,
establish a budget and develop an operations program. Phoenix plans to
build the labs by October 2004. UA also plans to build offices and a
medical mall near the research labs.

After the news conference, Trent was scheduled to go to Tucson to meet
with a group of UA professors who led a last-minute protest of the project.
They are concerned about insufficient details regarding the relationship
between the consortium and the universities.

"One of the interesting things about this process is there is so little detail
that it’s hard to get one’s arms around it," said Mike Cusanovich, UA vice
president for research and graduate studies emeritus. Cusanovich,
co-chairman of the Bio-Industry Organization of Southern Arizona, a private
industry group, added that he wasn’t pessimistic that issues could get
worked out.

Trent will also meet soon with Arizona State University officials. He is
expected to hold adjunct professor posts at both universities.

Michael Crow, incoming president of ASU, on Wednesday pledged
cooperation in the biotech effort, including building a research center on
campus.

"Anyone who is not interested in cooperation, the door is back there," Crow
told the assembled group.

Teamwork was a key phrase on Wednesday, with civic leaders saying they
hope this success will lead to others.

"This is a beginning for finding ways to work together among our
communities," Phoenix Mayor Skip Rimsza said. Phoenix, a major investor
in the biotech effort, will pay for the research building and some operations
costs. While the city supervises the building of the labs, research will be
done in labs donated by hospitals and in Arizona Public Service Co.
offices.

It’s going to take that same type of cooperation to make the investment in
the consortium pay off. A Brookings Institution report, released two weeks
ago, listed Phoenix in the bottom tier of communities when it came to
biotech research. The report also suggested that communities that were
just now investing in biotech were too late.

That hasn’t stopped Arizona.

"Many skeptics said this (fund-raising) couldn’t be done in this economy.
Well it is done," said John Murphy, executive director of the Flinn
Foundation.

Tucson Citizen reporter Teya Vitu contributed to this article.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0627genomics27.html

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