California’s Life Sciences Sector Hosts NIH Director in San Diego
San Diego, Calif. (PRWEB) March 06, 2015 -- Today, the California Healthcare Institute (CHI), Biocom and UC San Diego hosted Francis Collins, M.D., Ph.D., Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) at the UC San Diego, School of Medicine for a roundtable discussion regarding the vibrancy of the California life sciences sector and a town hall on President Obama's Precision Medicine Initiative.
Joint Statement from Dr. David Brenner, Vice Chancellor for Health Sciences and Dean of the School of Medicine, UC San Diego; Joe Panetta, President & CEO, Biocom; Sara Radcliffe, President & CEO, California Healthcare Institute; and Paul Viviano, CEO, UC San Diego Health System:
“California is the birthplace of biotechnology and today the state’s life sciences sector employs more than 270,000 people working to develop innovative new medicines, technologies and therapies needed to treat and cure patients. As the state that leads the nation in NIH research funding, today’s discussion with Dr. Collins was a timely and informative opportunity to discuss the groundbreaking discoveries that are fostered by this critical public-private partnership. We appreciate Dr. Collins’ keen awareness and understanding of the concerns that our sector faces in recruiting, training and retaining the best and brightest. His leadership on matters ranging from precision medicine, the BRAIN initiative, big data and regenerative medicine is critical to the continued success of California’s world-leading life sciences ecosystem.”
Statement from Dr. Francis Collins, Director, National Institutes of Health (NIH):
“Too many illnesses do not have effective treatments or prevention methods and we need new approaches to improve this situation,” said NIH Director Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D. “Precision medicine is an emerging approach to disease prevention and management that takes into account variation in individual health such as environmental exposures, health behaviors, genetics, physiology and metabolism. The Precision Medicine Initiative is an audacious, large-scale effort to generate the scientific evidence needed to put precision medicine into everyday practice. Today’s robust discussion with leaders from California’s life sciences sector underscores NIH’s commitment to engaging stakeholders from across the biomedical research community to modernize medicine in the 21st Century.”
About CHI-California Healthcare Institute
CHI represents more than 275 leading biotechnology, medical device, diagnostics and pharmaceutical companies, and public and private academic biomedical research organizations. CHI’s mission is to advance biomedical research, investment and innovation through effective advocacy of policies to improve public health and ensure continued vitality of the life sciences sector. CHI’s website is http://www.chi.org. Follow us on Twitter @calhealthcare, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube.
About Biocom
Biocom is one of the largest regional life science associations in the world, representing more than 600 member companies in Southern California. The association focuses on initiatives that position the region’s life science industry competitively on the world stage, and on the development and delivery of innovative products that improve health and quality of life. For more information on Biocom or the Southern California biotechnology and medical device community, please visit the organization’s Web site at http://www.biocom.org or call (858) 455-0300.
About UCSD Health Sciences
University of California, San Diego Health Sciences is internationally recognized as a place where discoveries are delivered – bringing breakthroughs from the research lab to patients' bedsides. Established in 1968, UC San Diego School of Medicine is consistently ranked among the top research-intensive medical school programs in the country by U.S. News & World Report and, in 2014, had the ninth highest National Institutes of Health total funding of 136 schools of medicine in the U.S. Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences opened in 2000 as the only public school of pharmacy in the region, and the second in the State of California. UC San Diego Health System, the region's only academic health system, is consistently ranked #1 in the San Diego metropolitan area by U.S. News & World Report with national rankings in 11 specialties. The health system is also ranked by the Leapfrog Group as a Top Hospital and with an A Hospital Safety Score, placing it among the safest hospitals in the United States. UC San Diego Health System is comprised of UC San Diego Medical Center in Hillcrest and UC San Diego Thornton Hospital, Moores Cancer Center (one of only 41 National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer centers in the country), Shiley Eye Center, Sulpizio Cardiovascular Center and Jacobs Medical Center (opening 2016) in La Jolla, as well as other primary and specialty practices located throughout Southern California.
Contact:
Will Zasadny
Manager – Communications; California Healthcare Institute
Zasadny(at)chi(dot)org
Phone: (619) 961-8848
Will Zasadny, Manager of Communications, CHI-California Healthcare Institute, http://www.chi.org, +1 619-961-8848, [email protected]
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