Delaware Biotechnology Institute

A decade of progress in modern biotechnology at UD has taken its most tangible form in the past few months, with the opening of the Delaware Biotechnology Institute (DBI), a state-of-the-art research laboratory in Newark. Faculty and students began working in the new lab early this year, and the building was formally dedicated in April.

DBI is a partnership among government, industry and academia (UD, Delaware State University and Delaware Technical and Community College) designed to position the First State as a center of excellence in biotechnology and the life sciences. The institute's mission is to engage in discovery-based scientific research, provide biotechnology-based education, promote economic development through entrepreneurship and incubation and create high-quality jobs.

"The study of the life sciences and the development of biotechnologies are aimed at understanding how natural systems function, then applying that understanding to improve the quality of life," DBI director David S. Weir says. The 72,000-square-foot lab, he says, will enhance the University's infrastructure and its ability "to address the genomics revolution in biotechnology."

The lab has been built as the gateway to Delaware Technology Park--a 40-acre property on the edge of campus, which the University set aside in the late 1980s for the state to use for economic development. The first building opened at the park in 1993, with the DuPont Co. as its first tenant, and two new buildings were dedicated in July 2000. Those buildings provide space that will be leased to start-up and emerging businesses.

One important aspect of the new DBI lab is that it is highly flexible to facilitate future changes in research direction, Weir says. The lab also promotes maximum interaction among scientists, both within and across disciplines, with ample space for scientific exchange among faculty and students, he says. Finally, Weir notes, the proximity of the lab to industry will

be invaluable, not only for faculty, but also for more than 100 graduate and postdoctoral students who will complete the institute's research staff.

Between 20 and 25 University faculty members will have a research presence at DBI, while another 50 or so faculty in almost a dozen academic departments will be associated through interdisciplinary grants. "Bringing together faculty from different disciplines will create a synergistic complement of scientific expertise to meet the challenges and opportunities of this exciting new field," Weir says.

"The University of Delaware has invested heavily in faculty and staff positions as well as in laboratories needed to conduct research and instruction in biotechnology," President Roselle says. "We do this with great confidence in the central role that this subject matter will play in the medical and plant advances of the 21st century."

Karl Steiner, associate director of DBI, says the institute will assemble and coordinate a number of core technologies--including genomics, proteomics, cytometry, bioimaging and bioinformatics--that will be professionally managed to serve the research needs of the faculty.

According to Weir, DBI's overall research goal is being implemented in two stages as part of a five-year plan. The first stage, he says, has been "to build a state-of-the-art facility and infrastructure to support high-quality, interdisciplinary discovery research and development in selected areas of competency. Financial support for construction and endowments for faculty positions have been key to the success of phase 1 and we are very grateful to the state, private industry and the University for their support."

"The second stage will focus on building upon the strong foundation established in the first stage, by expanding these programs into unique, interdisciplinary research and development programs at the interface of biology, engineering, biochemistry and computer science, which will distinguish DBI from other institutions across the country," he says

More information about the Delaware Biotechnology Institute is available on its web site, at [http://www.dbi.udel.edu].