Congress to award $2M for Brewer lab

BREWER – A huge defense spending bill clearing Congress contains $2 million for a new human genetics institute at Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems.

The plan also includes the University of Maine and the Bar Harbor-based Jackson Laboratory.

The area’s congressman, U.S. Rep. Michael Michaud, D-2nd District, was in Brewer on Thursday to tout the money for the Maine Institute for Human Genetics and Health.

He said the funding had been his top priority as Congress has struggled to complete a $453 billion defense spending bill before heading home for the holidays.

“This type of investment is a really big step in Maine,” Michaud said at a news conference Thursday at the Cianchette Building, headquarters for Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems.

“This institute will make Maine a leader in medical research and put us on the cutting edge of technology,” he said.

“I think that’s the key.”

The Brewer earmark, or special request, is folded into the massive Department of Defense spending bill for fiscal year 2006.

The bill is clearing congressional hurdles this week. President Bush is expected to sign it.

In a news release, Michaud said he has opposed provisions in the bill allowing oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska and cuts to various other programs.

Geneticist Laurent Beauregard, associate director of the new genetics institute, was delighted Thursday to lay claim to the funding.

“This is truly a great day – an excellent day,” he said.

The institute’s goal is to attract at least five nationally ranked scientists, as well as research grants, students and faculty.

It aims to conduct research that addresses aging and chronically ill populations in rural Maine.

“I can promise you this will be an opportunity for us to leverage considerable funds for this region,” he said.

The “bench-to-bedside research” will seek to improve the health status and health care costs of all Mainers, an EMHS news release said.

A 5,000-square-foot research facility for the institute is planned for a building adjacent to the EMHS corporate offices located off outer Wilson Street.

The building is expected to be constructed next year.