The Jackson Laboratory is a world-renowned center for research in mammalian genetics with employees in Bar Harbor, Maine and Sacramento, California -- and soon with employees in Connecticut.Yesterday Governor Dan Malloy announced plans for the Jackson Laboratory to build a $1.1 billion laboratory for personalized medicine on the UConn Health Center campus in Farmington. This announcement follows close on the heels of the state's $864 million investment in BioScience Connecticut, which was already poised to transform the Health Center.1 These initiatives build on a strong base of fundamental research in biomedical science at the Health Center and will make Connecticut a world-leader in personalized medicine. As the editorial board of the Hartford Courant puts it:
Advances in genetic testing are expected to make personalized medicine -- treatment developed by studying a patient's genetic makeup and background -- one of the medical field's strongest growth areas in the next 50 years. It may even cut health care costs.I am proud to be part of a university that helped to make this happen and to live in a state with such a vision for the future.
The new lab puts Connecticut squarely in this emerging field. Which is why, in a state with two decades of stagnant job growth, this is wonderful news. (emphasis added)
On a more personal note, I was pleased to see this affirmation of UConn's new president and the vice president of the Health Center in Rick Green's column today.2
1For more information about BioScience Connecticut, visit http://biosciencect.uchc.edu/
2In the interest of full disclosure, I should remind you that I was a member of the search committee that recommended Susan Herbst to the Board of Trustees, and I should mention that the vice president of the Health Center is Phil Austin, a former president of the University. I can't claim that Phil and I are buddies, but I do regard him as a friend.
"The first thing I noticed was the alignment of the governor, the commissioner of economic development, the president of the University of Connecticut, the vice president of the UConn Health Center and the faculty,'' said Charles E. Hewitt, the executive vice president of Jackson who negotiated the deal. "That was huge."
1For more information about BioScience Connecticut, visit http://biosciencect.uchc.edu/
2In the interest of full disclosure, I should remind you that I was a member of the search committee that recommended Susan Herbst to the Board of Trustees, and I should mention that the vice president of the Health Center is Phil Austin, a former president of the University. I can't claim that Phil and I are buddies, but I do regard him as a friend.
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