New research building cause for celebration

The Maine Medical Center dedicated a major new building last Wednesday afternoon. Surprisingly, it is not a center for treatment. Instead it is a center for biomedical research and development. Herein lies a story behind one of the major new growth industries in the Maine economy. It’s an industry with roots in Bar Harbor, at The Jackson Laboratory and the Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory, that is spreading statewide.

Let me tell you our story. Last Wednesday in Scarborough, Gov. Angus King joined Maine Medical Center President Vincent Conti in dedicating the new research building for the laboratory portion of the MMC Research Institute, MMCRI. It was an exciting, well-attended event by a broad cross section of the scientific, medical, educational and business communities in Maine. Such a broad scope of attendees is a testament to the role that research and development plays in each of those sectors in this new millennium.

The Maine Medical Center Research Institute is one of the youngest research institutions in Maine. Formally organized in 1991, it has already grown to be the largest medically oriented research organization in Northern New England outside of the Dartmouth and the University of Vermont medical schools. The Research Institute focuses on cardiovascular disease, and secondarily on portions of cancer and bone and mineral disease related to blood vessel biology. Located in the new building are the Center for Molecular Medicine, a group of research scientists discovering mechanisms of blood vessel growth, and the Clinician Researcher Division, a group of physician-scientists working on disease-oriented aspects of vessel biology.

Located at the Portland campus are MMCRI’s Center for Outcomes Research and Evaluation and its Clinical Trails Division. The former evaluates the medical and cost effectiveness of treatments; the latter tests new drugs and devices. Because of the work of these researchers, new treatment is brought to Maine patients years earlier than would otherwise be the case.

In 1997 Maine Medical Center decided that its growing research activity required a new building. The old facilities were a deterrent to recruiting and to competing for funding from the National Institutes for Health. Now that we have it, our new research building is a resource not just for the Maine Medical Center but for all of Maine. Our high technology facilities can be shared among our sister institutions in Maine, we have special surgical facilities to teach surgical techniques to medical students, residents, and community physicians, and our state-of-the-art laboratories are advancing basic and applied bench research. The impact of this activity is at once scientific, clinical, educational and economic. The scientific and clinical aspects relate to new discoveries and new means of providing care. The educational benefits extend from teaching medical students and residents to community physicians and Ph.D. students in the new cooperative program with the University of Maine, The Jackson Laboratory, and the University of Southern Maine. The economic impact stems from the millions of dollars brought into the Maine economy as a result of biomedical research.

The need for research facilities is not unique to the Maine Medical Center. Across Maine, from the Jackson Laboratory to Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory to the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine to the Foundation for Blood Research in Scarborough, the lack of facilities is an obstacle to the otherwise limitless potential for growth. To address this need, these four institutions along with the Maine Medical Center have formed the Biomedical Research Coalition. The coalition’s aim is to work together to create state-of-the-art laboratories and to attract world-class scientists to Maine; it is working jointly with the University of Maine and the University of Southern Maine to seek new opportunities and partner in acquiring and sharing research facilities.

Last year, in response to a coalition proposal, the State Legislature appropriated $10 million for the biomedical research sector. To date, the leveraged return on just the promise of that money (yet to be dispersed) is greater than $47 million in outside grants. The first year alone, that will result in $17 million in state and outside grant money being spent in the Maine economy. This investment, in turn, is stimulating $27 million in secondary or spin-off benefits – a remarkable return on investment by any measure.

While the shape of the next state budget is yet to be determined, the governor understands the value of this investment and continues to support biomedical research; he has kept the Biomedical Research Fund in his budget even at a time of decreasing resources. Similarly, both the Appropriations Committee and the Business and Economic Development Committee have unanimously supported a bill submitted by Sen. Jill Goldthwaite to continue this successful investment as well.

As the governor said in his remarks on the Maine economy in Scarborough, more facilities like the new MMCRI research building would have a profound impact on Maine and better allow us to compete in the new knowledge and talent based economy.

E.J. Lovett III, Ph.D. is director of the Maine Medical Center Research Institute.