1Agenda Item I
South CarolinaCenters of Economic Excellence
Minutes of the Review Board Meeting
June 18, 2007
Welcome and Introductions
Acting Chairman Harper-Bethea greeted those present and called the meeting of the South Carolina Centers of Economic Excellence Review Board to order at 10:05 a.m. The meeting was held in the Solomon Conference Room of the Thurmond/Gazes Research Building on the campus of the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, SC. Review Board members present included:
S.C. Research Centers of Economic Excellence Review Board Minutes October 30, 2006
1Agenda Item I
Paula Harper-Bethea, Acting Chair
Donald Babb
Bobby Pearce
Ed McMullen
Melvin C. Williams
J. Lyles Glenn
Patricia Wilson
Gregg Morton
Keith Munson
S.C. Research Centers of Economic Excellence Review Board Minutes October 30, 2006
Review Board members in attendance via teleconference:
James F. Barker
Review Board members not in attendance:
S.C. Centers of Economic ExcellenceReview Board Minutes June 18, 2007
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Raymond S. Greenberg
Andrew A. Sorensen
S.C. Centers of Economic ExcellenceReview Board Minutes June 18, 2007
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Others in attendance included:
S.C. Centers of Economic ExcellenceReview Board Minutes June 18, 2007
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Trisha Ostrowski, Clare Morris Agency
Clare Morris, Clare Morris Agency
Jessica Daly, Clare Morris Agency
Gordon Baylis, Health Sciences SC
Laverne Shuler, Health Sciences SC
Harris Pastides, USC
Rose Booze, USC
John Raymond, MUSC
Kenneth Tew, MUSC
Gary Aston-Jones, MUSC
Bart Yancey, MUSC
Maurice Snook, MUSC
John Lemasters, MUSC
Stephen M. Lanier, MUSC
Bo Faulkner, MUSC
Mark Sweatman, MUSC
Lisa McGill, MUSC
Jerry Reves, MUSC
Miguel Pappolla, MUSC
Chris Przirembel, Clemson (via telecon.)
John Tiencken, SC Electric Cooperatives
Bonnie Loomis, Southern Strategy Group
Gail Morrison, CHE
Gary Glenn, CHE
Tina Anderson, CHE
Arik Bjorn, CHE
S.C. Centers of Economic ExcellenceReview Board Minutes June 18, 2007
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Acting Chair Harper-Bethea introduced four new Review Board members: Mr. J. Lyles Glenn, Mr. Keith Munson, Mrs. Patricia Wilson and Mr. Gregg Morton. She presented backgrounds on the other Review Board members, and noted that Presidents Greenberg and Sorensen would be represented by Dr. John Raymond and Dr. Harris Pastides, respectively. She then asked those in attendance to introduce themselves briefly.
Acting Chair Harper-Bethea noted that the program audit had been removed from the agenda. She explained that the preparers were not quite finished, and rather than present a partial report, the draft will be presented at the August 20 Review Board meeting.
Acting ChairHarper-Bethea expressed her commitment to keep the Review Board as inclusive as possible. She intends to hold executive committee meetings to a minimum, and to inform the full Review Board in advance of all Executive Committee meetings and/or distribute minutes.
She commended the Commission on Higher Education staff for its diligence and hard work and thanked the Medical University of South Carolina for hosting the meeting.
Consideration of Minutes
The minutes of the February 26, 2007, Review Board meetings were discussed. Acting Chair Harper-Bethea remarked that the minutes were once again excellent.
- Action on the October 30, 2006, Minutes
Mr. Morton moved and Mr. Williams seconded a motion to approve the February 26, 2007, minutes as drafted. The motion was approved with all members of the Review Board present voting in favor of the motion.
Consideration of Resolutions Recognizing the Service of Former CoEE Chairman Ben Rook, Former CoEE Acting Chairman Samuel Tenenbaum and Former CoEE Review Board Member Harry Lightsey
Acting Chair Harper-Bethea summarized proposed resolutions that recognize the exemplary service of former CoEE Chairman Ben Rook; former CoEE Acting Chairman Samuel Tenenbaum, and former CoEE Audit Chairman Harry Lightsey III.
- Action on the Resolutions
Mr. Babb moved and Mr. McMullen seconded a motion to approve the resolutions for Ben Rook, Samuel Tenenbaum, and Harry Lightsey III, as drafted. The motion was approved with all members of the Review Board present voting in favor of the motion.
Introduction of MUSC Endowed Professors
Acting Chair Harper-Bethea asked Dr. Raymond to introduce the four MUSC Endowed Chair-holders in attendance.
Dr. Raymond extended President Greenberg’s greetings to the group, and stated that the Review Board was privileged to meet four distinguished individuals, two in the field of neuroscience and two in the field of cancer drug discovery. He added that each professor has succeeded greatly in his own research career, demonstrating collaboration and entrepreneurial spirit—key traits to the CoEE Program.
Dr. Raymond corrected the meeting agenda, which lists Dr. Miguel Pappolla as a Chair-holder in the Regenerative Medicine CoEE. He stated that Dr. Pappolla is a Chair-holder in the Neuroscience Center of Economic Excellence.
Dr. Raymond introduced Dr. Gary Aston-Jones, Chair-holder in the MUSC Neuroscience Center of Economic Excellence.
Dr. Aston-Jones stated that he is a cognitive and motivational neuroscientist who studies mental operations in the brain, in particular high level activities such as memory and learning, and how motivational and emotional systems in the brain influence those types of functions.
Dr. Aston-Jones explained that he studies brain function at the cellular level, particularly behavioral areas of the brain, including functions of intentionality. Simplified, one of his research programs investigates the ability to focus attention, then disengage and refocus attention adaptively. This research is relevant to ADHD and autism.
Another of his research programs is addiction science. His research team has recently uncovered a new brain neuropeptide, called orexin, that is important for learning and memory, both key aspects of addiction. For example, being in the presence of a certain learned stimuli, after even years of abstinence, can drive a craving or the tendency to relapse. Dr. Aston-Jones's work revealed that orexin is important for this response, indicating a new target for development of addiction medications.
Dr. Aston-Jones explained that the third area of his research is in affective disorders and depression. He recently discovered anew model of depression, whereby animals kept in continuous darkness for several weeks exhibit degeneration of the system that provides the brain with norepinephrine. Without norepinephrine, animals exhibit symptoms of depression. This new discovery will allow better development of medications to treat depression and seasonal affective disorder.
Dr. Raymond noted that Dr. Aston-Jones had been recruited from the University of Pennsylvania. He added that most of the MUSC Chair-holders hailed from such excellent institutions.
He next introduced Dr. Miguel Pappolla, MUSC’s most recent CoEE Chair-holder. Dr. Pappolla thanked the Review Board for the opportunity and honor of holding a CoEE Endowed Chair. He spoke briefly about his two active research projects.
Dr. Pappolla explained that his research uses animals geneticallyengineered to develop Alzheimer’s; when the cholesterol metabolism of an animal is modified in certain ways, this dramatically accelerates the disease. Thus, he is able to identify a number of mechanistic processes that impact the disease progression, which leads to the further identification of therapeutic targets for drug development.
Dr. Pappolla described that one of his earlier publications is now considered the exemplar on the subject, with nearly 400 professional paper citations. This paper led Merck to donate one of the drug patents to the academic consortium on Alzheimer’s disease.
Concerning economic development in South Carolina, Dr. Pappolla explained that he is working to develop neuro-protective compounds associated with aging and Alzheimer’s disease. (Neuro-protective compounds are substances that help the nervous system to maintain neural life under adverse conditions.) In the last few years, Dr. Pappolla has identified and developed synthetic analogues to enhance the level of medical care for the elderly population, with commercialization in mind.
Acting Chair Harper-Bethea asked Drs. Aston-Jones and Pappollato describe the impetus that led them to accept their positions at the Medical University.
Dr. Pappolla answered that he was aHurricane Katrina victim. Due to the tragedy, he had lost his animal colonies and his research infrastructure, as well as his private practice on the coast. He visited several institutions and found that MUSC had the most promising atmosphere for research as well as a friendly working environment.
Dr. Aston-Jones answered that, MUSC’s strength in the neurosciences influenced him. He also was able to foresee growth by virtue of the Endowed Chairs Program. The offer of an endowed chair promised certain levels of research resources as well.
Dr. Raymond next introduced Dr. Kenneth Tew, chairmain of the MUSC Department of Cell and Molecular Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, as well as MUSC’s first CoEE Endowed Chair-holder.
Dr. Tew stated that he had been an MUSC Chair-holder for three years. He previously worked at the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, where he also held an endowed chair. Before that, he was a faculty member at Georgetown University. He explained that one of the reasons he came to MUSC was because of the growth spurt that was evident in South Carolina and MUSC. For the past decade, he had been doing consulting work for the MUSC Cancer Center, and he consideredCharleston one of his favorite parts of world and also very conducive to faculty recruiting.
Dr. Tew noted that in the past 18 months he has recruited new faculty members from Harvard, NIH, and the University of Virginia. He also recently recruited a research associate professor from the University of Pennsylvania, who will start at MUSC in Fall 2007. Two of these professors havejust received a two-year, $750,000 grant from the Department of Defense to study ovarian cancer. He explained this is evidence that the CoEE Program is already beginning to yield a financial return.
Dr. Tew explained that CoEE funds help support graduate students and post-docs in the department’s laboratories. The CoEE Program also allowed him to do a number of broad thingsat a time when state budgets are generally on the decline and with the NIH in a relatively unstable state.
Dr. Tew described the Spring 2007 drug discovery and drug development symposium at Kiawah Island, which he organized. The symposium was attended by many executives from large pharmaceutical companies, startup companies, and biotech companies. Governor Sanford and his wife also attended, as did Mayor Riley of Charleston. The symposium was an opportunity to demonstrate the positive effects of the CoEE Program.
Dr. Tew stated that he is presently collaborating with two drug companies, one of which is Novelos in Boston. Novelos recently released NOV-002, an ovarian cancer trial drug in Phase II development. Novelos is also contributing approximately $200,000 a year in unrestricted grants for the MUSC project; these funds are mostly used for the recruitment of project researchers. Dr. Tew invited members of the Review Board to contact him to discuss cancer drug development and the interfacing between academia and industry.
Acting Chair Harper-Bethea stated that it was exhilarating to see the CoEE Program bearing fruit. She also commended Dr. Tew for his modesty, noting that he was additionally a marketing expert, who understands what this program means for the future of South Carolina, as well as for world medical research.
Mr. McMullen asked how the merger of the USC and MUSC pharmacy sciences programs had impacted the CoEE Program. Dr. Tew replied that a number of teaching responsibilities had shifted. Also, Columbia students now have access to Charleston lectures via telecommunication, and visa-versa. Overall, he is working with Drs. Berger and Schnellmann to merge the programs smoothly. He added that MUSC was close to hiring the other Endowed Chair-holder in Translational Cancer Therapeutics.
Dr. Raymond introduced Dr. John Lemasters, a highly successful scientist formerly with the University of North Carolina. Dr. Lemasters thanked the Review Board for the opportunity to become a COEE Endowed Chair-holder. He stated that he researchesthe cellular basis for injury to tissues and cells—especially oxygen levels and low flow—which profoundly affects those who suffer heart attacks, stroke, and various kinds of kidney, intestinal, and liver diseases. He also studies blood and oxygen supply as concerns organ preservation for transplantation surgery.
The main thrust of his research concentrates on preventing cell death that results from oxygen deprivation or other toxic stresses. In cancer chemotherapy, one tries to enhance cell killing and make it more specific for cancer tissue, which, he explained, is essentially another side of the same coin. Instead of searching for protective strategies, the researcher looks for enhanced strategies.
Of particular interest is the phenomenon of reperfusion injury, in the context of heart attacks or strokes. Tissues can survive certain amounts of oxygen deprivation and then recover when oxygen or blood flow is restored. But paradoxically, if that interval is too long, the restoration of oxygen becomes an additional stress to the tissue and can actually induce cellular death. This phenomenon is called reperfusion injury.
However, if one can ‘reperfuse’ in a gentler manner—in a way that blocks the formation of oxygen radicals—then the tissue can recover rather than die. This is especially important for tissue in the brain or heart.
Dr. Lemasters shared that one of the technologies he uses is confocal microscopy, a microscopic technique that allows one to obtain thin, optical sections of a thick tissue—analogous to what an MRI does to the entire body. The result is that one can make clear observations on a microscopic scalewithout dealing with superimposed images. Also, various fluorescent indicators, some bioengineered with luminous fluorescent proteins, are inserted so that single-cell physiology can be viewed as it occurs.
Dr. Lemasters expressed his excitement at this technique and at the opportunity to move from individual cells and cultures to in-situ tissue imaging. Soon he will be able to observe cells response and physiology in-situ on a cell by cell basis.
Dr. Lemasters shared that, for purposes of economy and scale, the MUSC and USC colleges of pharmacy had been combinedto form a single South Carolina College of Pharmacy. Faculty were initially concerned as to whether this merger would work, but most have been impressed with video-conferencing and other facilities that allow simultaneous teaching between the two campuses. All departmental seminars are now simulcast to both campuses. All concerned are dedicated to earning a top-ten ranking for the college.
Dr. Raymond briefly introduced Dr. Steve Lanier, Associate Provost for Research at MUSC as well as a professor of pharmacology.
Dr. Pastides also introduced USC’s new Associate Vice President for Research, Dr. Rosemarie Booze. She is a professor of behavioral neuroscience in the Department of Psychology, and will be assisting USC with the Endowed Chairs Program.
Acting Chair Harper-Bethea welcomed both individuals and asked Dr. Jerry Reves, the Dean of the MUSC College of Medicine and Vice President for Medical Affairs, to introduce himself briefly to the Review Board.
Consideration of Research University Infrastructure Act Certification Revisions
Because Dr. Walters could not yet be reached via cellular telephone, Acting Chair Harper-Bethea asked if the Review Board would be willing to skip forward in the Agenda to the proposed Clemson Research University Infrastructure Act Certification revisions.
Mr. Bjorn shared that at the August 2006 CoEE Review Board meeting, the Board approved a shift in funds within the Clemson ICAR Certification, from $2.5 million of $4.2 million targeted to the purchase of 39 acres of land, to the purchase of equipment for the Campbell Engineering Center. This was a typographical error and instead should have been a request to shift $2.5 million of $2.6 million (not $4.2 million) of funds targeted to the purchase of land to the purchase of equipment. The Review Board was asked to revise the amendment accordingly. Brief discussion ensued.
- Action on Technical Revision to August 28, 2006, Amendment for Clemson-ICAR Research University Infrastructure Certification
Mr. Glenn moved and Mr. Pearce seconded a motion to approve said technical revision to the August 28, 2006, ICAR Research University Infrastructure Certification funds transfer. The motion was approved with all members of the Review Board present voting in favor of the motion.
Mr. Bjorn informed the Review Board that Clemson wished to transfer $300,000 within the same ICAR Research University Infrastructure Certification from the parking deck to the plaza. He stated that the staff supported the concept of transferring funds within the same certificationto different components of a project. Brief discussion ensued, during which Mr. Munson voiced his support for the funds transfer.
- Action on Consideration of Funds Transfer for Clemson-ICAR Certification
Mr. Munson moved and Mr. Williams seconded a motion to approve the shift of $300,000 within the Clemson-ICAR Research University Infrastructure project, from the parking deck to the plaza. The motion was approved with all members of the Review Board present voting in favor of the motion.
Consideration of Six-Month Pledge Verification Deadline Extension for Urban Ecology & Restoration CoEE (Clemson) and Supply Chain, Optimization & Logistics CoEE (Clemson)
While awaiting Dr. Walter’s telephone call, Acting Chair Harper-Bethea proceeded to the consideration of pledge verification deadline extensions for two Clemson University CoEEs: Urban Ecology & Restoration and Supply Chain, Optimization & Logistics.
Dr. Morrison explained to the new members of the Review Board that a provision existed in the Program Guidelineswhich allowed the institutions to petition the Review Board for two separate six-month extensions to the 18-month pledge verification deadline. She added that the provision had been exercised once, and she further explained that Clemson was close to securing pledges for the full non-state match for both CoEE’s. Thus, the staff supported Clemson’s petition for both six-month extensions requests.