IBSB names advisory board of business leaders

The University of Arizona's new Institute for Biomedical Science and Biotechnology (IBSB) has established a panel to help define its long-term approach to economic development, according to David Wichner's Bio File column in the Arizona Daily Star.

The Business Advisory Board will meet once or twice a year to advise IBSB leaders on economic development projects and on establishing close ties to the business sector. IBSB Co-director Vicki Chandler told the Star that she also expects workforce development and K-12 education to be key issues for the business board to address.

"It's important to realize that economic development is not just spinning off companies," she told the Star. "We can do a lot to make sure our undergraduates and graduates that are trained here are going to stay here and not head off to California."

The board will be chaired by UA alumnus Tom Keating, chairman of IPSA International in Alameda, Calif., and namesake of IBSB's headquarters, the Thomas W. Keating BioResearch Building, to which he donated $10 million.

The other initial board members are Jozsef Aszodi, site director for Aventis Pharmaceuticals Inc.; Robbie Barkley, president and CEO of Barkley Ag Enterprises in Yuma; David Cohen, managing director of Tucson-based Technology Network International; Lynn Kirkpatrick, CEO of Prolx Pharmaceuticals; Bob Morrison, representing the Desert Angels investment group; Nina Ossanna, senior director of business development for ImaRx Therapeutics; and Roberto Rios, economic development director of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe.

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For more information:

"Business panel to guide UA institute," Arizona Daily Star, 12/11/2003