The UA's involvement in the burgeoning biosciences sector would mean the university could net nearly twice as much in federal research grants, build more research laboratories and specialize in neurological sciences, cancer therapies and bioengineering, according to a report released yesterday.

The UA and other Arizona universities are lagging behind other states in biotechnology research, and consequently, research grants, the report stated.

Bioscience Applications ·   Alzheimer's disease ·   Parkinson' s disease ·   Epilepsy ·   Rehabilitation ·   Anti-cancer drugs ·   Pancreatic cancer ·   Colon cancer ·   Environmental links to cancer ·   Imaging and diagnostics ·   Implants ·   Prosthetics ·   Robotic symptoms ·   Anthrax, plague and other pathogens ·   Plant vaccine development ·   Valley Fever ·   Crop development ·   Asthma ·   Diabetes

But with investment and growth in the biosciences field, which encompasses life-related sciences ranging from organic chemicals and pharmaceuticals to physicians' work and researchers' discoveries, Arizona's three public universities could bring their shared National Institutes of Health revenues up from $117 million in 2001 to $214 million by 2007.

Right now Arizona is 28 percent less involved in biosciences than other states, and Arizona's universities rank 27th in the nation in NIH funding grants, though the NIH's budget has doubled in the last five years, said Walter Plosila, vice president for public technology management at the Battelle Memorial Institute, which drafted the report.

One goal is to get Arizona's universities into the ranks of the top 10 states in NIH earnings.

The report was commissioned by the Flinn Foundation, a philanthropic organization, and is a blueprint that administrators say will work for Arizona's ÷ and the UA's ÷ future in biotechnology.

"I think this was an excellent road map of where we need to go on this university campus, let alone statewide," Graduate College Dean Gary Pivo said yesterday at a meeting where the study's findings were released.

With the help of the state-based Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), which was designed to turn research discoveries into practical applications like medicines, the Battelle Institute also projected that UA would ramp up the study of infectious diseases, crop development, asthma and diabetes about a decade from now.

The new businesses that spring up to study and produce health-related products and services could result in 12,900 new biosciences jobs by 2012, Plosila said, with thousands more jobs produced in supporting industries. Now, there are 450 businesses classified in the biotechnology field that employees 9,100 workers.

But Plosila said having a strong research sector that receives financial support from the state, like the UA, is key.

"Just as you've attracted TGen, you can attract other firms that want to be around the research universities and other anchors," he said.

The needs don't stop there.

The UA will need new curricula, graduates who are knowledgeable about handling the business aspects of biotechnology, more laboratories and more cash.

It will take between $380 to $405 million to cover building new laboratories and pay 111 research groups statewide. About a quarter of that money is in to date, Plosila said.

The Arizona Board of Regents has already approved a $60 million building dedicated to biotechnology that will be constructed next to University Medical Center.

But it will take $140 million per year, more than a decade and lots of cooperation between the three state universities to propel biotechnology statewide, the report stated.

Deans from the Arizona Health Sciences Center met with Ray Woosley, vice president for health sciences, yesterday morning to discuss what steps they would take in furthering biosciences.

Though few specifics are available, the plan projects researchers will study neurological sciences, cancer therapies and bioengineering. Bioengineering involves imaging, diagnostics, implants and prosthetics.