Reporter: Stephen J. Williams, Ph.D.
Event Details:
Date/Time: Monday, September 8, 2014, 5:30-7PM EDT
Venue: Pfizer Cambridge Seminar Room (ground floor)
Location: Pfizer Inc., 610 Main Street, Cambridge, MA 02139 . Click here for a map to the location.
(Corner of Portland and Albany street, Cambridge, MA 02139)
RSVP: To confirm your attendance please RSVP online through this website. This is an ONLINE REGISTRATION-ONLY event (there will not be registration at the door).
The Role of Innovation Districts in Metropolitan Areas to Drive the Global and Local Economy: Cambridge/Boston Case Study
Join Pfizer Cambridge at our new residence for a fascinating evening led by Vise-President and Founding Director, Bruce Katz of Brookings Institution, followed by a networking reception with key partners in our new Cambridge residence; Boston-Cambridge big pharma and biotech, members of the venture capital community, renowned researchers, advocacy groups and Pfizer Cambridge scientists and clinicians.
Boston/Cambridge is one of most prominent biomedical hubs in the world and known for its thriving economy. Recent advances in biomedical innovation and cutting-edge technologies have been a major factor in stimulating growth for the city. The close proximity of big pharma, biotech, academia and venture capital in Boston/Cambridge has particularly been crucial in fostering a culture ripe for such innovation.
Bruce Katz will shed light on the state of the local and global economy and the role innovation districts can play in accelerating therapies to patients. Katz will focus on the success Boston/Cambridge has had thus far in advancing biomedical discoveries as well as offer insights on the city’s future outlook.
The Brookings Institution is a nonprofit public policy organization based in Washington, D.C. Mr. Katz is Founding Director of the Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program, which aims to provide decision makers in the public, corporate, and civic sectors with policy ideas for improving the health and prosperity of cities and metropolitan areas.
Agenda:
5:30-6PM Registration/Gathering (please arrive by no later than 5:45PM EDT with a
government issued ID to allow sufficient time for security check)
6-7PM Welcoming remarks by Cambridge/Boston Site Head and Group Senior
Vice-President WorldWide R&D, Dr. Jose-Carlos Gutierrez-Ramos
Keynote speaker: Bruce Katz,
Founding Director Metropolitan Policy Program
Vice-president, The Brookings Institution
7-8PM Open reception and Networking
8PM Event ends
This May, Pfizer Cambridge sites are integrating and relocating our research and development teams into our new local headquarters at 610 Main Street, Cambridge, MA 02139. The unified Cambridge presence represents the opportunity to interlace Pfizer’s R&D capability in the densest biomedical community in the world, to potentially expand our already existing collaborations and to embark on forging possible new connections. These events will further drive our collective mission and passion to deliver new medicines to patients in need. Our distinguished invited guests will include leaders in the Boston-Cambridge venture capital and biotech community, renowned researchers, advocacy groups and Pfizer Cambridge scientists and clinicians.
Online registration:
If you are experiencing issues with online registration, please contact: Cambridge_site_head@pfizer.com
610 Main St
Cambridge, MA 02139
This is very insightful. There is no doubt that there is the bias you refer to. 42 years ago, when I was postdocing in biochemistry/enzymology before completing my residency in pathology, I knew that there were very influential mambers of the faculty, who also had large programs, and attracted exceptional students. My mentor, it was said (although he was a great writer), could draft a project on toilet paper and call the NIH. It can’t be true, but it was a time in our history preceding a great explosion. It is bizarre for me to read now about eNOS and iNOS, and about CaMKII-á, â, ã, ä – isoenzymes. They were overlooked during the search for the genome, so intermediary metabolism took a back seat. But the work on protein conformation, and on the mechanism of action of enzymes and ligand and coenzyme was just out there, and became more important with the research on signaling pathways. The work on the mechanism of pyridine nucleotide isoenzymes preceded the work by Burton Sobel on the MB isoenzyme in heart. The Vietnam War cut into the funding, and it has actually declined linearly since.
A few years later, I was an Associate Professor at a new Medical School and I submitted a proposal that was reviewed by the Chairman of Pharmacology, who was a former Director of NSF. He thought it was good enough. I was a pathologist and it went to a Biochemistry Review Committee. It was approved, but not funded. The verdict was that I would not be able to carry out the studies needed, and they would have approached it differently. A thousand young investigators are out there now with similar letters. I was told that the Department Chairmen have to build up their faculty. It’s harder now than then. So I filed for and received 3 patents based on my work at the suggestion of my brother-in-law. When I took it to Boehringer-Mannheim, they were actually clueless.
This is very insightful. There is no doubt that there is the bias you refer to. 42 years ago, when I was postdocing in biochemistry/enzymology before completing my residency in pathology, I knew that there were very influential mambers of the faculty, who also had large programs, and attracted exceptional students. My mentor, it was said (although he was a great writer), could draft a project on toilet paper and call the NIH. It can’t be true, but it was a time in our history preceding a great explosion. It is bizarre for me to read now about eNOS and iNOS, and about CaMKII-á, â, ã, ä – isoenzymes. They were overlooked during the search for the genome, so intermediary metabolism took a back seat. But the work on protein conformation, and on the mechanism of action of enzymes and ligand and coenzyme was just out there, and became more important with the research on signaling pathways. The work on the mechanism of pyridine nucleotide isoenzymes preceded the work by Burton Sobel on the MB isoenzyme in heart. The Vietnam War cut into the funding, and it has actually declined linearly since.
A few years later, I was an Associate Professor at a new Medical School and I submitted a proposal that was reviewed by the Chairman of Pharmacology, who was a former Director of NSF. He thought it was good enough. I was a pathologist and it went to a Biochemistry Review Committee. It was approved, but not funded. The verdict was that I would not be able to carry out the studies needed, and they would have approached it differently. A thousand young investigators are out there now with similar letters. I was told that the Department Chairmen have to build up their faculty. It’s harder now than then. So I filed for and received 3 patents based on my work at the suggestion of my brother-in-law. When I took it to Boehringer-Mannheim, they were actually clueless.