100 Million Gift Boosts Biomedical Research. Purdue third to accept billionaire's offer. by Brian Wallheimer

Prospects of rapid product development excite experts

Leslie Geddes already has a grant application ready to go, hoping he can take advantage of a new Purdue institute promising to speed biomedical research into practical use.

Purdue will get a $100 million endowment this morning that will help take biomedical research to the commercial stage. The endowment, created through a partnership between the Purdue Research Foundation and the Mann Foundation, is the largest for research in the university's history.

Alfred Mann, who became a billionaire from the biomedical field, established the Mann Foundation for Biomedical Engineering and is hoping to set up 12 to 15 institutes throughout the world. Purdue's will be the third, with the other two at the University of Southern California and Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa.

Geddes, the Showalter Distinguished Professor in Purdue's Biomedical School, said getting funding for research and clinical testing in his field can lengthen the amount of time it takes to put ideas to practical use. He's hoping the new Alfred Mann Institute will speed that process.

"It takes about 10 years to get it in commercial use," Geddes said. "Before you do anything, you've got to get the money."

After researchers come up with an idea, they typically have to assess what its uses are and if a large company wants to license and develop the invention. If not, a private company could develop around the invention.

Throughout the process, researchers must find money for research and clinical trials. The Alfred Mann Institute is hoping to greatly reduce the time that takes.

"There will be capital and expertise on campus to develop the technology," said George Wodicka, head of biomedical engineering at Purdue. "It brings the capacity for the campus to do rapid product development."

That, Wodicka said, can be attractive to prospective students and professors.

Michael Khoo, chairman of the Biomedical Engineering Department at USC, said researchers there have benefited from the Alfred Mann Institute funding.

"It has accelerated things. Many times if we did not have AMI here, we wouldn't have some projects get as far along," Khoo said.

Khoo said the problem is researchers don't often have the background to do the business aspect of commercialization.

"We're not lawyers," Khoo said. "It takes a lot for us to learn these things."

The Alfred Mann Institute would look to fund two projects each year and possibly grow to as many as six per year.

Speeding inventions into use is not only important for medical breakthroughs. It also decreases the possibility that another research institution could get similar research onto the market first.

Purdue president Martin Jischke said the endowment also doubles the funding, to about $5 million a year, the university has to transfer technology into the commercial stage.

"It enhances Purdue's very excellent reputation in engineering and biomedical engineering in particular," Jischke said.

"We are very interested in seeing our research transferred into use for the benefit of society."

The Alfred Mann Institute will be located in Discovery Park in existing space, but it's possible a new facility could be built later. Jischke said that facility would be rented by the institute.

The contract signing and a news conference for the new institute will be at 10 a.m. today at the Biomedical Engineering Building at Discovery Park.