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The pandemic put a spotlight on biomedical research. Discover how we’re working to ensure continued investment in key areas of basic and clinical sciences.
The speed with which COVID-19 vaccines were developed — made possible by the strong collaboration and coordination across nations, sectors and disciplines — proves that science and the knowledge it creates are powerful engines for the public good. We have also seen the deep commitment of our scientific community as its members advocate for health and well-being in the face of disease, inequity and other global threats: climate change, pollution, poverty.
The synergy in combating the pandemic has been unprecedented and, some experts argue, has transformed the research environment. Transparency, cooperation and communication continue to power that transformation.
“We did science in ways that people did not think we could, driven by this sense of urgency, which we all say that every day counts,” National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins, MD, PhD, told Chemical & Engineering News last January. Dr. Collins said that most of 2020 was spent “trying to bring together all of the partners that could accelerate progress and making sure that any of the barriers to those kinds of partnerships got knocked down.” Researchers from all sectors, he said, “were completely willing to share and work together in fashions that traditionally have been more difficult.”
The COVID response continues to reveal the possible: the use of genetic sequencing as a primary weapon against infectious disease; AI, machine learning and smart image analysis to fast-track clinical trials; and the discovery of genetic variants associated with COVID-19 severity and susceptibility.
“ The United States stands at a moment of unprecedented scientific promise and is challenged to ask: What more can we do to accelerate the pace of breakthroughs to transform medicine and health?” Dr. Francis CollinsAs experts predict a shift from pandemic to endemic — living with the potential for COVID in our communities and across the globe — the Biden administration is pushing for historic increases in investments for science and biotechnology, including strategies for developing COVID treatments and, potentially, prototype vaccines. A proposed new research agency, the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), situated within the NIH, is designed to focus on breakthrough technologies and platforms; resources and solutions for chronic and infectious diseases; and healthcare access, equity and quality.
“The United States stands at a moment of unprecedented scientific promise and is challenged to ask: What more can we do to accelerate the pace of breakthroughs to transform medicine and health?” ask the authors, including NIH Director Collins, of “ARPA-H: Accelerating Biomedical Breakthroughs,” published July 9 in Science magazine.
WE WILL SEE MORE TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE IN THE NEXT 10 YEARS THAN WE SAW IN THE LAST 50 YEARS. AND WE’RE FALLING BEHIND IN THAT COMPETITION. … THE NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH, THE NIH — SHOULD CREATE AN … ADVANCED RESEARCH PROJECTS AGENCY FOR HEALTH. TO DEVELOP BREAKTHROUGHS — TO PREVENT, DETECT AND TREAT DISEASES LIKE ALZHEIMER’S, DIABETES AND CANCER. … I CAN THINK OF NO MORE WORTHY INVESTMENT. AND I KNOW OF NOTHING MORE BIPARTISAN. President Biden’s Joint Address to Congress, April 28, 2021
Public-private partnership among government, industry, nonprofits and academia — like the one behind Accelerating COVID-19 Therapeutic Interventions and Vaccines (ACTIV) — is a big part of the answer. As of June, ACTIV had prioritized 19 therapeutic agents for clinical trials, with the goal of producing FDA-authorized oral antiviral medicines to prevent serious illness and save lives. The Antiviral Program for Pandemics, announced in June under a $3 billion investment from the American Rescue Plan, will accelerate and expand the work of ACTIV.
Decades of basic research into how viruses infect cells helped pave the way for the battle against COVID-19. RFU’s strategic vision for the growth and sustainability of its research enterprise reflects a deep commitment to the basic sciences and the fundamental knowledge they create, which is a wellspring of discovery, innovation, improved health and economic growth.
NIH FUNDING IS ON THE RISE. BUDGET INCREASES HAVE BEEN SUSTAINED EACH OF THE LAST THREE YEARS, WITH FY 2016–2018 R&D BUDGETS INCREASING AN AVERAGE OF 4.8% ANNUALLY. THE INCREASE HAS TRANSLATED INTO A GROWING FUNDING BASE FOR RESEARCH AWARDS IN ILLINOIS. THE EXPANSION IN R&D AT ILLINOIS UNIVERSITIES CAN BE ATTRIBUTED IN PART TO THEIR SUCCESS IN OBTAINING FEDERAL FUNDING. Source: Illinois Biotechnology Innovation Organization
| Agricultural Sciences $81 | |
| Biomedical Engineering $33 | |
| Medical Sciences $839 | |
| Biological Sciences $384 | |
| Other Life Sciences $94 | |
| Total $1,431 |
Rosalind Franklin University was awarded in October a $2 million matching grant by the State of Illinois under the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) Wet Lab Capital Program. The grant will accelerate the co-location of industry and academic scientists and entrepreneurs within the university’s Innovation and Research Park (IRP), creating an optimal environment for collaboration — a critical driver in the development of new biotechnologies and therapies.
“We’re grateful that the State of Illinois recognizes the very innovative concept we’re building — a collaborative environment across sectors,” said Executive Vice President for Research Ronald Kaplan, PhD. “There is tremendous entrepreneurial biopharma, bioscience and innovation potential in Lake County — 122 companies, 33,000 employees — and we’re the only major health sciences academic institution. So catalyzing collaboration and providing fertile ground for industry and academic interactions makes so much sense.”
“ WE NEED TO PUT THE PEDAL TO THE METAL RIGHT NOW IN OUR LIFE-SCIENCES SECTOR, ESPECIALLY WHEN ITS SUCCESS IS SO CRITICAL TO OUR FUTURE ECONOMIC SECURITY.” Gov. J.B. Pritzker
The grant is a vote of confidence in RFU’s academic research enterprise at a pivotal moment, as a convergence of advances propels biomedical innovation like never before. A revolution in DNA sequencing, made possible by the invention of new machines, AI techniques and an explosion in computing power, continues to solve biological puzzles: the mapping of the genome of SARS-CoV-2 and its variants; the deciphering of the human genome — revealing millions of genetic variations among human beings; and the potential for repair of disease-causing genetic mutations.
INNOVATION IN LIFE SCIENCES CONTINUES TO PLAY A KEY ROLE IN THE HEALTH OF OUR COMMUNITIES AS WELL AS OUR ECONOMY, AND THE INVESTMENTS WE’RE MAKING TODAY WILL BUILD CAPACITY TO SUPPORT NEW ADVANCEMENTS IN BIOTECH, MEDICINE AND OTHER LIFE-SAVING R&D. Sylvia I. Garcia, acting director of the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity
Known for discovery in neuroscience, brain-related disease and inherited disorders, among numerous other fields, RFU is leveraging its basic research — organized into therapeutic centers of excellence — through expanded collaborations across the life-science ecosystem, including founders and their companies, academia, industry, investors and philanthropy, to help translate discovery into improved health and well-being.
ILLINOIS HAS ALWAYS BEEN HOME TO WORLD-CLASS ACADEMIC RESEARCHERS AND GLOBAL CORPORATE LEADERSHIP IN THE LIFE SCIENCES INDUSTRY, BUT THE HISTORIC LACK OF PHYSICAL INFRASTRUCTURE HAS STUNTED THE GROWTH OF OUR ECOSYSTEM. John Conrad, iBIO president and CEO
Partnerships across sectors — government, corporate, philanthropic — are key to fostering next-generation science and innovation and driving economic growth. The IRP and Helix 51 — the first bioscience incubator in Lake County, which adds affordable wet lab space and programming critical to the success of early-stage companies — represent an expansion of the bioscience industry in Illinois.
The grant, part of the $15.4 million Rebuild Illinois Wet Lab Capital Program, comes at a critical time as the state continues to recover during a new surge of the COVID-19 pandemic.
