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Mar 07, 2011

Reserve space at Arizona Pavilion at BIO Convention

From Sandra Watson, COO of the Arizona Commerce Authority:

BIO 2011 is just around the corner! The Annual BIO International Convention is the world’s largest biotechnology gathering. Over 15,000 biotechnology, life science and industry professionals from around the world will gather to highlight the future of biotechnology at the BIO 2011 Annual International Convention in Washington D.C. from June 27 – 30, 2011.

The Arizona Commerce Authority will be promoting Arizona as the premier location to establish a bioscience company and exposing Arizona’s existing bio companies and research organizations to potential partners and customers worldwide.

The Arizona Pavilion provides strategic opportunities for companies, organizations and communities to make an impact at the BIO 2011 Annual International Convention.

Please join us and show your commitment to accelerating Arizona’s bio industry and making this year the best yet at BIO! For more information contact Jennifer Edson at jennifere@azcommerce.com

 Tags: arizona commerce authority, bio international convention
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Dec 10, 2010

Bioscience Roadmap Chair Marty Shultz to lead new law firm

[From the Arizona Capitol Times]

ne of America’s top lobbying and law firms bided time for years while it waited for the perfect candidate to spearhead its expansion into Arizona.

The waiting ended when Marty Shultz announced his retirement.

Shultz will take over as head of the new Phoenix office of Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck immediately after he retires from Pinnacle West at the end of December. The Denver-based lobbying and law firm plans to hire a team of attorneys to work with Shultz starting next year.

[...]

James said Brownstein hires people who have a passion for community involvement, a criterion Shultz will have no difficulty meeting. Shultz said he plans to continue chairing the Phoenix Community Alliance, Arizona’s Bioscience Roadmap and the Discovery Triangle Development Corporation. He also will continue his involvement with Gov. Jan Brewer’s fledgling Arizona Commerce Authority.

[...]

Shultz’s work with the bioscience roadmap will dovetail with Brownstein’s work in the field. For example, the firm serves as outside general counsel for a project that will convert a former Air Force base in the Denver area into what James called one of the country’s leading bioscience campuses.

Read more at the source: "Shultz to join Denver-based legal powerhouse"

 Tags: arizona's bioscience roadmap, law, marty shultz, public policy
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Dec 10, 2010

Biodesign to host cancer-vaccine conference

[From ASU News]

World-leading scientists, ethicists, policymakers, and cancer patient advocates will gather at Arizona State University for the first-ever Prophylactic Cancer Vaccine Conference in Tempe, Ariz., March 16-18, 2011. The conference will be a premier forum to discuss the latest developments in a radical new approach to battling cancer: the development of cancer vaccines aimed at protecting healthy individuals from the disease.

Read more at the source: "Experts converge at Arizona State University for first preventive cancer vaccine conference."

 Tags: asu, biodesign institute, cancer, stephen albert johnston, vaccinology
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Dec 05, 2010

Startups get ready to woo investors

If you want money from Paul Winandy, you better come with more than a just a good idea.

The managing director of the Arizona Technology Investor Forum reviewed applications from roughly 130 business startups this year. Eleven of them will present to his group, made up of about 50 angel investors who focus on early-stage technology funding in Arizona. Out of those 11, only three or four will actually receive capital.
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Nov 29, 2010

New Director Appointed for the Arizona Center for Innovation

Joann Rockwell MacMaster has been appointed site director for the Arizona Center for Innovation (AzCI) at the UA Tech Park.

As the executive director of AzCI, her responsibilities include managing daily operations, mentoring companies, client recruitment, as well as supervising AzCI staff and entrepreneurs in residence. In addition, she will assist in strategy development, fundraising, and outreach for the business incubator.

 Tags: arizona center for innovation
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Nov 24, 2010

Airport pat-downs may raise infection risk

When Hillary Bessiere flew to Cancun from Phoenix last week, she saw something that grossed her out, and validated her stringent travel hygiene habits: A woman changing a baby's diaper on an airplane, with nothing between his naked little bottom and the seat.

"I'm a mother, too, and I would never, ever do that," said Bessiere, director of business development at an event-planning firm in San Francisco.

 Tags: university of arizona
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Nov 24, 2010

Tigger and Trek themes highlight annual Seena Magowitz Golf Classic

From Winnie the Pooh to Star Trek, the themes of the 8th annual Seena Magowitz Foundation Celebrity Golf Classic celebrate the inspiring words of cancer victim Randy Pausch.

Pausch was a 47-year-old Carnegie Mellon computer-science professor who died of pancreatic cancer in 2008. His now famous Last Lecture affectionately conveys the importance of achieving childhood dreams and maintaining a positive outlook on life. Featured on PBS, the Last Lecture has been seen by more than 12 million viewers on YouTube and is an internationally best-selling book.

 

 Tags: cancer, tgen
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Nov 23, 2010

Clothing line makes awareness fashionable through genetic art

In Our Genes (IOG), a Phoenix-based clothing line that uses DNA “fingerprints” on clothes, will donate $5 from each sale for research into cancer and other diseases at the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen).

Darrin Grandmason, CEO and founder of In Our Genes - and a former Biology student - got the idea for the clothing line after he created a series of wall hangings based on the DNA of his dog, his friends’ dogs and people.

Grandmason said that by using clothing design prints derived from DNA disease markers, patients and others could better understand that diseases often have genetic origins.

 Tags: tgen
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Nov 23, 2010

UA-biotech nexus holds vast promise

Tucson's prospects for strengthening its entrepreneurial economy were boosted by two recent, but largely unreported, announcements:

• The first was the unveiling of a bold and innovative tech-transfer model for capitalizing on the vast wealth of ideas continually being generated at the University of Arizona.

• The second was the announcement by the National Institutes of Health that 12 Tucson-based biotech companies had been awarded federal tax credits and research grants.

 Tags: university of arizona
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Nov 23, 2010

UA-biotech nexus holds vast promise

Tucson's prospects for strengthening its entrepreneurial economy were boosted by two recent, but largely unreported, announcements:

• The first was the unveiling of a bold and innovative tech-transfer model for capitalizing on the vast wealth of ideas continually being generated at the University of Arizona.

• The second was the announcement by the National Institutes of Health that 12 Tucson-based biotech companies had been awarded federal tax credits and research grants.

 Tags: university of arizona
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Nov 22, 2010

Chandler Regional stroke-treatment model gets prelim OK

Chandler Regional Medical Center has received provisional stroke center accreditation from the Arizona Stroke Commission.

A specialized stroke-care treatment model was implemented in September at Chandler Regional and its sister hospital Mercy Gilbert.

Both are part of the Catholic Healthcare West hospital network.

Each center has also submitted an accreditation application to the Joint Commission for Primary Stroke Center status, the designation for medical facilities that demonstrate exceptional effort in treating and improving long-term outcomes for stroke patients, and anticipate full approval early in the first quarter of 2011.

 Tags: cadiology, chandler regional medical center
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Nov 19, 2010

Businessman-philanthropist assists TGen-VARI study of rare cancer

International businessman and philanthropist Foster Friess has donated $50,000 to help launch a study of small cell carcinoma of the ovary (SCCO) by the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) and the Van Andel Research Institute (VARI).

Friess made the donation in memory of Taryn Ritchey, 22, who in 2007 succumbed to SCCO, a rare and extremely aggressive cancer that strikes women in the prime of life.

 Tags: cancer, tgen
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Nov 19, 2010

UA Professor named GQ 'Rock Star of Science'

Dr. Eric M. Reiman, a psychiatry professor at the University of Arizona, has been recognized as a 2010 Rock Star of Science, joining a select group of scientific leaders and musicians in a campaign to celebrate biomedical research.

Reiman is internationally recognized for his contributions to brain imaging research, the unusually early detection and tracking of Alzheimer's disease, and the effort to find demonstrably effective treatments to prevent Alzheimer's symptoms.

 Tags: alzheimers disease, arizona alzheimers consortium, banner alzheimers insitute, university of arizona
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Nov 19, 2010

Awards celebrate Arizona's tech sector

Five individuals, six companies, four students, a teacher and 10 state legislators were honored Thursday night during the 2010 Governor's Celebration of Innovation awards.

Bestowed by the Arizona Technology Council and Arizona Commerce Authority, the awards were announced during a "red carpet"-style ceremony at the Phoenix Convention Center.

 Tags: arizona state university
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Nov 17, 2010

Golf Atlanta charity tournament raises $105,000 for TGen research

The 2010 Golf Atlanta charity golf tournament raised $105,000 in its first year to benefit research aimed at finding better treatments and eventually a cure for pancreatic cancer.

2010 Golf Atlanta drew 124 players Oct. 15, 2010, to the Crabapple Golf Club in Alpharetta, Ga., just north of Atlanta.

Proceeds support the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), a non-profit biomedical research facility in Phoenix, Ariz., working to find new agents to prevent, treat and eventually cure pancreatic cancer.

 

 Tags: cancer, tgen
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Nov 16, 2010

Longtime APS lobbyist steps down

Martin Shultz, a lobbyist for Arizona Public Service Co. and its parent company, Pinnacle West Capital Corp., announced Monday that he will retire Dec. 31 after 32 years of helping guide public policy for the companies.

Shultz, 66, worked as chief of staff for three Phoenix mayors, in marketing for the Phoenix Suns and in education before joining the utility company in 1979.

Besides helping APS get built a nuclear-power plant that generates more electricity than any other power source in the nation and, more recently, helping develop alternative energy such as solar, Shultz has made a name for himself through an exhaustive series of civic engagements.
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Nov 16, 2010

Mayo Clinic unveils plans for sophisticated cancer treatment

Mayo Clinic today unveiled plans to build a new $182 million radiation therapy center in Phoenix that will provide advanced treatment to children and adults with complicated cancer cases.

The Mayo Clinic's proton-beam therapy program will include new 100,000-square-foot facilities that will open in late 2014 or 2015 in Phoenix and Rochester, Minn.

Advocates of proton-beam therapy say it provides more targeted radiation to tumors, lessening the damage to healthy tissue when compared with conventional X-ray radiation treatment.

 Tags: banner health, bioimaging, cancer, mayo clinic, phoenix childrens hospital
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Nov 10, 2010

Inside look at Southern Arizona's only trauma center

The Level 1 Trauma Center at U.M.C. serves all of Southern Arizona. That includes 1.5 million people. 5000 people are seen each year.

How is a Trauma Center different than an Emergency Room? That's what the trauma doctors want you to know and the common ways people are getting hurt may surprise you.

 Tags: university of arizona
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Nov 07, 2010

Local hospitals rate in the 100 best Pplaces to work

Modern Healthcare magazine’s 100 Best Places to Work 2010 list was recently released and all three Arizona Catholic Healthcare West (CHW) hospitals were recognized.

Mercy Gilbert Medical Center ranked No.16, Chandler Regional Medical Center ranked No. 28 and St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center ranked No. 37 out of the top100 healthcare organizations across the nation in the large category (more than 1,000 employees).

Modern Healthcare’s Best Places to Work program recognizes the top 100 healthcare organizations nationwide that enable employees to perform at their optimum level to provide patients and customers with the best possible care and services. There were 328 employers who competed for the award.

 Tags: chandler regional medical center, mercy gilbert medical center, st. joseph’s hospital
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Nov 05, 2010

Phoenix mayor touts new downtown opportunities

New jobs and educational opportunities are coming to downtown Phoenix, Mayor Phil Gordon and other officials announced Thursday at his annual State of Downtown speech and the kickoff of CityScape's four-day grand opening.

Those new employers include a yet-unannounced company that had a signed a lease at CityScape, plus the Arizona Cancer Center and the ASU law school that long have been planned for downtown.

 Tags: arizona state university, azcc, com phoenix, university of arizona
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Nov 03, 2010

State reps to tour the UA in prep for budget cuts

Kirk Adams (R-Mesa), who is probably the next speaker of the house, is bringing a dozen or so state representatives to tour the University of Arizona campus on Monday (Nov. 8).

Adams has already taken the tour to ASU and NAU. At the UA, they'll check out BIO5, engineering programs, and the mirror/solar lab.

 Tags: arizona state university, bio5, bioengineering, northern arizona university, university of arizona
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Oct 30, 2010

Jobs urged in biotech, energy

To ease the peaks and valleys on Arizona's economic roller coaster, the state needs to foster new types of jobs in biotech, aerospace and renewable energies such as solar. That was the advice given Thursday by Scottsdale businessman and community leader Brad Casper to members of the Economic Club of Phoenix.
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Oct 29, 2010

Health Sciences Education Building under construction

The University of Arizona College of Medicine-Phoenix began construction today on the Health Sciences Education Building at the Phoenix Biomedical Campus, or PBC, located at 600 E. Van Buren St.

Mayor Phil Gordon, councilman Michael Johnson and Dr. Stuart Flynn, dean of the UA College of Medicine-Phoenix, moved the first dirt in the construction of the $129 million building that will allow for the expansion of the medical education facilities.
 

 Tags: com pheonix, university of arizona
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Oct 29, 2010

Nearly $1M NIH instrumentation grant increases capabilities

The University of Arizona’s shared, state-of-the-art research infrastructure is one of the ways scientists reduce costs while staying ahead of the curve in their respective research programs. Called “core facilities,” they make available the very latest in specific expertise and technology to UA scientists, and in some cases, academic and industry scientists statewide, nationally and internationally.
 
A $916,000 grant from the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) has expanded the capacity of one of those core facilities—the Arizona Proteomics Consortium—by funding a new mass spectrometer, the LTQ Velos Orbitrap LC-MC/MS system and Advion Nanomate source. The NCRR, part of the National Institutes of Health, provides laboratory scientists and clinical researchers with the tools and training they need to understand, detect, treat and prevent a wide range of diseases.

 Tags: arizona proteomics consortium, proteomics, university of arizona
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Oct 28, 2010

Mattress Firm, Protect-A-Bed team up to fight pancreatic cancer

Mattress Firm and Protect-A-Bed are joining forces to raise money to support the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network and the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen). During the month of November, National Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month, a portion of the proceeds from all Protect-A-Bed product sales at any Mattress Firm location will go directly to Pancreatic Cancer Action Network and TGen to further fund research to save lives

 Tags: cancer, tgen
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Oct 28, 2010

GateWay to launch $6 mil science 'incubator'

Sometime in the second half of next year, budding entrepreneurs will have a new place to meet, network, get advice and build their businesses.

GateWay Community College on Thursday announced the launch of its Emerging Technologies Incubator, a $6 million complex of office space, conference rooms and laboratories capable of housing up to 30 early-stage companies, with a focus on bioscience and other emerging technologies.

 Tags: gateway community college
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Oct 28, 2010

Venture capital in Arizona suffers

Arizona venture-capital investment was dismal during the most recent quarter, according to two reports, but experts caution against reading too much into the numbers because of similar declining numbers across the U.S. and region as well as funding that went unreported.

Just two companies in the state received financing during the third quarter for a total investment of $7 million, Dow Jones VentureSource said.

Another report, the MoneyTree Report from PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association, said $13.9 million was invested in three Arizona companies during the quarter.

 Tags: venture capital
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Oct 28, 2010

New UA Corporation to advance commercialization of research discoveries

The University of Arizona is creating a nonprofit corporation that will help move innovations created at the University into the marketplace as well as develop new companies, create jobs and keep them in Arizona. Meredith Hay, UA executive vice president and provost, made the announcement Thursday at the IdeaFunding conference in Tucson.

The initiative will combine technology transfer and new business development with improved and coordinated support for businesses, colleges, faculty and others. Hay described it as building an "innovation ecosystem" at the UA.

The tentatively named University of Arizona Research Corporation, or UARC, will, over the next six months, include the functions of the existing Office of Technology Transfer, add new functions for new venture formation and will run under the auspices of the UA Foundation.

 Tags: bio5, university of arizona, venture capital
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Oct 27, 2010

BioAccel aims to finance technology companies

A Phoenix-based nonprofit and a London-based technology investor have formed a new company that seeks to provide funding and technical expertise to startup technology companies.

The new company, Henislie Corp., was created by BioAccel, of Phoenix, and Imprimatur Capital, of London. Henislie, based in Beverly Hills, Calif., seeks to raise $50 million to invest in clean energy, information technology, life science and telecommunications companies. It will initially focus on companies in Arizona, Southern California and Texas.

 

 Tags: bioaccel, venture captial
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Oct 21, 2010

Governor Brewer commits $10M to SFAz for research and education

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer announced that the State is providing $10 million in federal stimulus funds to SFAz as part of a portfolio of Strategic Investments designed to position Arizona for economic growth and stability.  The funds – $6.5 million for Research and $3.5 million for Education – will be provided through the Governor’s Office of Economic Recovery with funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

This financial award reinforces the State’s commitment to supporting SFAz’s proven model as a public/private partnership, which leverages matching funds from industry and other sources to embed high paying jobs in the state.  The stimulus funds will be used to support a variety of carefully screened research initiatives, STEM education programs and graduate research fellowships.

 Tags: sfaz