GRAND RAPIDS ? The Core Technology Alliance announced Wednesday that Western Michigan University?s Biological Imaging Center and Biosciences Research and Commercialization Center have become the eighth and ninth technology R&D centers to join the state life sciences alliance.
An initiative of the Michigan Technology Tri-Corridor, the CTA provides Michigan universities, private research institutes and biotechnology and pharmaceutical firms access to core life science research centers. The CTA was founded by members of the Michigan Life Sciences Corridor with the support of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation in 1999.
“It is a pleasure to welcome Western Michigan University to the CTA as our sixth member institution. Their participation will further enhance our efforts to spur life sciences research and product development in the State of Michigan,” said CTA President and CEO George Vande Woude, Ph.D. Vande Woude is also director of research at the Van Andel Institute in Grand Rapids.
WMU?s Biological Imaging Center, which is housed in the Department of Biological Sciences, provides several high-tech functions. In addition to being a resource for scientists across campus who need electron microscope and image analysis, it also conducts research and medical analysis for industry nationwide as well as local hospitals.
The Biosciences Research and Commercialization Center, a commercially focused and science-driven translational research center, already is a major player in Michigan’s economic development. It is successfully using its pharmaceutical expertise and resources to commercialize promising life sciences discoveries and to expand Michigan’s life sciences business sector.
WMU is one of three institutes in the CTA to have more than one core technology represented in the alliance. Existing core facilities include the Michigan Animal Models Consortium and Michigan Antibody Technology Core at the Van Andel Institute, Michigan Center for Biological Information and the Michigan Proteme Consortium at the University of Michigan, Michigan Center for Genomic Technologies at Wayne State University, Michigan Center for Structural Biology at Michigan State University and Michigan High Throughput Screening Center at Kalamazoo Valley Community College.
