Nearly 600 medical research executives, scientists, policy makers and funders met this week in New York at FasterCures‘ inaugural Partnering for Cures meeting.
In a press release, FasterCures said the conference aimed to “facilitate multi-sector collaborations needed to turn a scientific discovery into an accessible therapy. This effort unites the power of philanthropy, passion of nonprofit disease organizations, and the expertise of biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies.”
At Wednesday’s opening plenary session, Partnering for Cures: Paving the Way to Cross-Sector Collaborations, PhRMA’s The Hon. Billy Tauzin, a Research!America board member, was a panelist along with Robert Beall of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Kathy Giusti of the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation, and Edward Benz Jr. of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
Moderated by FasterCures‘ executive director Margaret Anderson, the panel discussed challenges facing the FDA, clinical trials and translational research.
Research!America’s report 2008 U.S. Investment in Health Research was used during the discussion to illustrate the percentage of funding that comes from venture philanthropists.
Thursday’s opening session, Breakthrough Science, was moderated by James Greenwood of the Biotechnology Industry Organization. Mara Aspinal of On-Q-ity, Stephen Friend of Sage Bionetworks, Levi Garraway of Dana-Farber, Garry Neil of Johnson & Johnson, and Rudolph Tanzi of Massachussetts General Hospital, discussed potential paradigm shifts when thinking about diseases.
In addition to plenary sessions, more than 40 research foundations presented their work, and a formal partnering system allowed one-on-one meetings between attendees. Breakout sessions included topics such as Maximizing Your Return on Philanthropy, Is the NIH Investing in Innovation? and Crossing the Valley of Death: The Translational Funding and Management Gap.
Find out more about the conference at www.partneringforcures.org, and follow @FasterCures on Twitter for the latest updates about their work. FasterCures, the Washington-based center of the Milken Institute, is a Research!America member.
Tags: Billy Tauzin, FasterCures
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