News Release

Schedule your interviews with Missouri life science leaders

Meeting Announcement

Kupper Parker Communications

As we enter a new century, Missouri is an international center of plant and human genome research, health care advances and agricultural development -- all supported by a sophisticated transportation and information technology infrastructure, world-class research universities and a highly trained workforce.

In one telling example, NIH funding to Missouri institutions increased 46 percent between 1995 and 1999 when it reached $316 million. The increase placed Missouri fifth among states receiving substantial NIH funding, i.e. those getting more than $65 million a year, based on percentage increase.

Visit http://www.lifescigate.org for the funding rankings and more information on the life sciences in Missouri.

Available for interviews during the conference are:

Joe Driskill, director, Missouri Department of Economic Development, who can address statewide partnership building in the life sciences and the state's planned use of 20 percent of tobacco settlement dollars for health sciences research.

Andrew Neighbour, associate vice chancellor for Technology Management at Washington University, an international center in decoding the human genome.

Marcia Mellitz, president of the Center for Emerging Technologies in St. Louis, can discuss how she and her colleagues quickly move medical research to commercialization by assisting life sciences start-ups.

Robert Calcaterra, president and CEO of the newly established Nidus Center for Scientific Enterprise, which focuses on assisting start-ups in the life and plant sciences.

Roger Beach, president of the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, which strengthens the state's leadership position in the plant sciences by supporting collaborative research.

Denis Forster of Metaphore Pharmaceuticals which recently had the results of its breakthrough research in metals-based pharmaceuticals published in Science.

Robert Marcusse, president and CEO of the Kansas City Area Development Council, has launched an exciting array of life sciences initiatives and has founded the Kansas City Area Life Sciences Institute.

Ronnie Bryant, the senior vice president for economic development of the St. Louis Regional Chamber and Growth Association, has been instrumental in the region1s life sciences growth by supporting collaborative efforts from private and public sectors as well as overseeing the development and attraction of key life science companies, organizations and conferences to the area.

Leonard Guarraia, chairman and president of the World Agricultural Forum, a foundation created to meet the urgent need for open debate and discussion surrounding the availability of food, fiber and fuel for the world1s population.

Betsy Murray, senior sales representative of Tripos, Inc., the leading company that combines information technology and science to simplify and speed discovery of new chemicals important to the life sciences industry.

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