Baxter International, Inc. became the first corporate partner to support the university’s new Helix 51 incubator, which officially launched in May. The 5,400 square foot bioscience incubator opened with two companies, BLR Bio and Inspirotec, and recently welcomed the following:

• Radiance Biosciences, founded by Sivakumar Ramu, PhD, is a contract research organization (CRO) dedicated to custom assay and biomarker development for diagnostic and therapeutic bioscience companies
• S-Mart Stable Isotopes, founded by Sudhakar Parthasarathy, PhD, is a CRO that develops stable isotopes for use in university research groups, clinical diagnostics and bioscience companies involved in NMR-based research and applications.

Baxter’s support of the Helix 51 incubator will help enable a series of programs for early stage companies. “Baxter’s leadership is helping us kick start a number of new programs as we incorporate more new companies into Helix 51,” said Ronald Kaplan, PhD, RFU’s executive vice president for research and interim dean of Chicago Medical School. “We are already planning phase II of Helix 51 in the new Innovation and Research Park scheduled to open late fall of this year. There's a need for more wetlab space for early stage companies. Baxter’s support is pivotal and greatly appreciated at this stage and we hope to announce additional corporate support shortly,” he added.

Rosalind Franklin University received its first-ever Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (MIRA) from the National Institutes of Health-Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS). The five-year, $2.1 million MIRA was awarded to David Mueller, PhD, professor, Center for Genetic Diseases, for his research study “Structure and Mechanism of the Mitochondrial ATP Synthase and Batten Disease Gene Product, Cln3p.”

Dr. Mueller’s study uses structural and molecular biology to study both the mitochondrial ATP synthase and Batten disease, a deadly genetic neurodegenerative disease that affects young children. While there currently is no cure for Batten disease, the hope is that studies such as this can pave the way toward a better understanding of the disease and ways to treat it.

According to the NIH website, the goal of MIRA is to increase the efficiency of NIGMS funding by providing investigators with greater stability and flexibility, thereby enhancing scientific productivity and the chances for important breakthroughs.