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For immediate release
August 23, 2006
New VCU School of Engineering dean appointed to VBDC board
Richmond, Va. – The Virginia Biosciences Development Center recently announced the addition of Russell D. Jamison, Ph.D., dean of Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of Engineering, to its board of directors.
“We are excited to welcome Dr. Jamison to both VCU and the Virginia Biosciences Development Center board of directors,” commented David Lohr, executive director of the VBDC. “The background and experience he brings to the table will be invaluable as we continue our efforts in growing the local life sciences industry.”
Jamison began his new role at the School of Engineering in July 2006. Prior to VCU, he had been a professor of bioengineering and materials science and engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign since 1998, and also a former director and co-director of its Technology and Management Program.
In addition to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Jamison was a member of the faculty at the United States Naval Academy. He served as principal consultant to Health Technology Resources, a Tennessee-based company and as senior vice president for research and development at Smith & Nephew Orthopedics, also in Tennessee.
“By design, our programs at the VCU School of Engineering take an interdisciplinary approach among engineering, medicine and the life sciences so that our students learn a ‛second language,’ which will ultimately place them a cut above the rest,” stated Jamison. “Being involved with the Virginia BioTechnology Research Park and the Virginia Biosciences Development Center is critical to understanding the local industry and cultivating an environment that will both support the technologies developed here and employ the highly specialized students we produce.”
The Virginia Biosciences Development Center was created in September 2000 to provide business strategy and assistance as well as basic business support to seed, pre-seed and early-stage companies in the Virginia BioTechnology Research Park’s 27,000-square-foot incubator facility. Since opening, more than 60 companies have started in the incubator, including 18 from VCU. Sixteen have successfully graduated, with four having relocated to larger space in the Park. Three companies — Insmed Inc., Allos Therapeutics Inc. and Commonwealth Biotechnologies Inc. — are now publicly traded firms. Most significantly, the companies that have graduated now account for several hundred new jobs in central Virginia.
Contact:
Nicky Colomb
Virginia BioTechnology Research Park
Phone: (804) 828-6884
E-mail: ncolomb@vabiotech.com
Web site: www.vabiotech.com
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