The University of Massachusetts Medical School was proud to host
the Massachusetts Bar Association House of Delegates at our
Worcester campus last month. The meeting took place steps from the
very spot where the Albert Sherman Center - a state-of-the-art,
500,000-square-foot research and academic center -- is rising on
our campus. In scope, the building, which will open later this
year, is impressive, but what truly stands out about this
super-structure is what it signifies: the future of the life
sciences research and development economy in Massachusetts and
beyond.
The reason that the Sherman Center is so important to the future
of biotechnology and the state's economy is simple: we are at a
moment like no other when it comes to reaping the benefits of a
generation of biomedical research. The faculty that will work and
teach in the Sherman Center will do so using tools and technologies
that have finally begun to bridge that gulf between laboratory
discoveries and therapies for patients.
The first sequencing of the human genome took 10 years and cost $1
billion; today, human genomes can be sequenced in days for a few
thousand dollars. Fifteen years ago, the phrase "RNA interference"
didn't exist; today, that Nobel Prize-winning discovery by a UMass
Medical School scientist is the foundation for an entire industry
aimed at bringing new therapeutics to the marketplace. Biomedical
research is coming of age, and one only has to look inside the
Sherman Center to see how different the world now looks.
Inside, you will see the RNA Therapeutics Institute, co-directed
by our Nobel Laureate Craig Mello, where researchers will be
studying ways of using our own genetic code to turn off
disease-causing genes. You will find scientists in the Center for
Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine developing therapies
based on reprogramming cells in order to grow new ones. The Gene
Therapy Center has already introduced clinical trials for diseases
like prostate cancer. And working side by side with these renowned
scientists will be experts in bioinformatics and genomics, clinical
trial design and translational medicine, many in our new Department
of Quantitative Health Sciences, where we work to develop and test
tools for improving patient outcomes from both cutting-edge
treatments and well-established therapies.
All of this will happen with one of our most precious resources --
our students -- "embedded" in the Sherman Center in new learning
communities. Here, they will work closely with each other and with
faculty in a new collaborative model of medical education that
reinforces our leadership in this important mission.
The benefits to the commonwealth will be as impressive as the
building itself: new discoveries will mean new investments in
biotechnology and pharmaceutical research, in new technologies and
new infrastructure. Biomedical science -- already the cornerstone
of the new Massachusetts economy -- will continue to lead
Massachusetts and the nation, and at the University of
Massachusetts Medical School, we're proud to be at the center of
this effort.
Michael F. Collins is chancellor of the
University of Massachusetts Medical School and senior vice
president for the health sciences, University of
Massachusetts.