October 20, 2008

Minnesota Partnership Announces Four Infrastructure Awards
$7 million in support of biomedical research

ROCHESTER/MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — The Minnesota Partnership for Biotechnology and Medical Genomics is awarding $7 million in state-funded infrastructure support to four partnering research teams. The awards will provide equipment and materials for research on congenital heart disease, improved bioinformatics to analyze genomic data, advanced imaging of the brain for numerous diseases and the creation of a crystallization facility to study hundreds of medical conditions at the molecular level.

"These new awards reflect the Partnership’s continuing commitment to build Minnesota’s bioscience infrastructure, while avoiding expensive duplication of technologies," says Mark Paller, M.D., Partnership program director at the University of Minnesota.

"These four awards will enhance research aimed at a wide range of serious health problems facing people in our state," explains Eric Wieben, Ph.D., Partnership program director at Mayo Clinic.

Proposal applications were requested last summer from University and Mayo researchers. Each proposal has a principal investigator from each institution and represents a project that could not be completed by either organization on its own.

The Minnesota Partnership for Biotechnology and Medical Genomics is a collaboration among the University of Minnesota, Mayo Clinic and the State of Minnesota.

The Minnesota Partnership 2008 infrastructure awards include:

Minnesota Congenital Heart Network — $500,000
Sheri Crow, M.D., Mayo Clinic; and Herbert Ward, M.D., Ph.D., University of Minnesota

Funding will be used to create and manage research data on children born with congenital heart defects, with the aim of improving outcomes after surgery.

High Throughput, Nanovolume, Crystallization Facility — $1.8 million
Douglas Ohlendorf, Ph.D., University of Minnesota; and James Thompson, Ph.D., Mayo Clinic

This facility will offer analysis of nearly 400 different conditions and diseases at a level not currently available at either institution.

Advanced Molecular Neuroimaging — $3.5 million
Val Lowe, M.D., Mayo Clinic; and Kelvin Lim, M.D., University of Minnesota

Researchers from multiple disciplines will improve and adapt new imaging technologies to study neurological and psychiatric diseases. The goal is to improve diagnosis, advance treatment and discover new medications.

HAITI (High throughput sequence Analysis Infrastructure Technology Investigation) — $1.2 million
Jean-Pierre Kocher, Ph.D., Mayoillion Clinic; and Sushmita Singh, Ph.D., University of Minnesota

This project will streamline management and analysis of large amounts of genetic data produced by new medical genomic research.

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Contact:

Robert Nellis
  507-284-5005 (days)
  507-284-2511 (evenings)
  newsbureau@mayo.edu

Nick Hanson
  612-624-2449
  651-235-2265 (cell)
  hans2853@umn.edu