Supercharging life science

Beacon Hill, with strong backing from the life science industry, has approved a $1 billion, 10-year life science initiative, a cornerstone of Governor Patrick's economic strategy. He hopes the bill will lure biotechnology companies to the state, creating high-paying, quality jobs while holding onto scientists and researchers at state institutions.

The bill includes $250 million in tax credits for life sciences companies that agree to create jobs in the Commonwealth. Another $250 million is set aside for research grants to encourage those conducting the cutting edge research to stay in Massachusetts.

The remaining $500 million would be dedicated for major construction and improvement projects designed to benefit the industry. One of those is a $10 million Center for Personalized Cancer Therapy at UMass Boston in partnership with the Dana Farber Harvard Cancer Center. UMass Boston was quick to win one of the initial $750,000 grants from the new life sciences center board, responsible for allocating the new state funds, for start-up funds to recruit a nationally prominent scientist to lead the Center. Overall, UMass won over one-quarter of the $1 billion life science bill for various projects.

In another bond bill approved this year by Beacon Hill lawmakers is $2.2 billion, 10-year higher education bill to help pay for new building and renovation projects at the state's public universities and colleges. As part of the bond bill, UMass Boston will receive $125 million in new funding the bulk of which will fund a new integrated sciences building.

The state investments in science and technology come at a time when federal research investments are shrinking as a share of the U.S. economy, just as other nations are increasing their investments, according to the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Federal investment in research will fall in real terms for the fifth year in a row. Massachusetts’ young scientists are stuck behind their mentors in a federal funding queue that is stalling promising careers in academic research and development.

At a hearing in March of this year on a report called "A Broken Pipeline," Senator Edward Kennedy warned: "If we lose the talents of a generation of young researchers, we put in peril not only medical progress, but our leadership in life sciences too," he said. "A culture of innovation and discovery does not just happen. It must be nurtured or it will wither."

The new state investments come on the heals of an economic stimulus bill two years ago through which UMass Boston obtained $5 million for an 18,000 SF Venture Development Center, opening early next year. The Center for Personalized Cancer Therapy is expected to be a magnet for young scientists requiring small, reasonably priced office and lab space in the Venture Development Center for starting their own companies.

Massachusetts is “the gold standard” according to the Milken Institute’s 2008 State Technology and Science Index. The surge in authorized borrowing this year has signaled that Massachusetts will not be outdone when it comes to science and technology, and that UMass is a cornerstone of the state’s strategy.