Research Showcase held at Abbott Bioresearch Center
Worcester, MA - The Colleges of Worcester Consortium, Inc. hosted a health-related research showcase entitled “Research and Educational Partnerships in the Health Care Industry” on Wednesday, April 11 at Abbott Bioresearch Center.
Poster and panel presentations at this event focused on the wide variety of health-related projects and research being undertaken by faculty and students from the 13 member institutions of the Consortium in collaboration with leading health care industries in the area. Thirty-four student and faculty research posters were on display at the event.
Abbott Bioresearch Center served as a perfect venue for this event which highlighted the productive connections which exist between the local academic and biotechnology communities. Abbott Labs, based in Chicago, IL, produces the anti-inflammatory drug Humira, the only drug ever researched, discovered, and produced in Massachusetts.
The highlight of the afternoon was a panel discussion that featured brief presentations by Grant McGimpsey, director of the Bioengineering Institute at WPI, Kevin O’Sullivan, president and CEO of Massachusetts Biomedical Initiatives (MBI), Deborah Kochevar, dean of the Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, and Thoru Pederson, the Vitold Arnett professor of cell biology, professor of biochemistry and molecular biology, and associate vice chancellor for research at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. The panel was moderated by Eric Schultz, president and CEO of Fallon Community Health Plan.
O'Sullivan described what he referred to as "a revolution in the biotechnology and life sciences" that is currently on the rise in Worcester and the region. He praised the work of Dr. Craig Mello, a Nobel Prize winning faculty member at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, in addition to the creation of WPI's Gateway Park. The life sciences and biotechnology fields have come to the forefront in Worcester and the region with the aide of Consortium member institutions such as the University of Massachusetts Medical School, the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy, WPI, and Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine. "Massachusetts is now competing on a global level," said O'Sullivan. "We would not succeed without our local institutions."