I am writing today to announce the closure of the Michigan Messenger. After four years of operation in Michigan, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news into a single site, The American Independent at Americanindependent.com. This is part of a shift in strategy, towards new forms [...]
An abstinence-only presentation provided to numerous school districts in Calhoun and Eaton Counties in October of this year provided false and misleading information to students about HIV, experts allege.
Two county registers of deeds filed a class action lawsuit Monday on behalf of Michigan’s 83 counties alleging that the Mortgage Electronic Registration Services owes millions of dollars in property title transfer taxes.
Despite evidence of the impact of mercury on children and public health, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette last month joined with 24 other state attorneys general in filing a lawsuit to scuttle new EPA regulations that would reduce mercury emissions from power plants.
Ok, so the Lansing budget battle is still as bruising as ever (and unresolved), but that didn’t stop Gov. Jennifer Granholm from visiting Detroit on Thursday afternoon and announce the attraction of a major conference for the Motor City next year.
The major conference, you ask? None other than the World Stem Cell Summit (I hadn’t heard about it either) will take place at the Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center.
The three-day affair (Oct. 4-6) is co-hosted, Granholm’s office also announced, by Michigan State University, the University of Michigan, Wayne State University and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation.
From Granholm’s office:
We have been working to grow Michigan’s life sciences sector as part of our strategy to diversify the state’s economy and create jobs,” Granholm said. ”The World Stem Cell Summit is one of the most important life sciences conferences in the world. The selection of Detroit to host the 2010 summit is positive recognition and support of our efforts here in Michigan in this emerging economic sector.”
The summit will attract more than 1,200 of the most influential stem cell stakeholders from more than 30 countries, representing the fields of science, business, policy, law, ethics and advocacy. There will be 150 internationally-renowned speakers, producing a unique international network designed to foster collaborations, economic development, technology transfer, commercialization, private investment and philanthropy.
It’s entirely possible that stem cell research could very well turn out to be the 21st century version of the discovery of penicillin — and spawn a new jobs-laden industry to further develop it. Or not. But either way, it’s good news that the conference will be coming to Detroit. And if this year’s World Stem Cell Summit is any indication, maybe more immediate benefits could flow. From last month’s San Francisco Business Times, this year’s recently-concluded conference in Baltimore yielded a pretty sweet research deal with clear host-state bennies:
As the World Stem Cell Summit opened in Baltimore, California’s stem cell research funding organization and the Maryland Technology Development Corp. say they signed a deal that could fund teams of researchers in both states.
The story goes on to note that a “similar deal” inked by the California organization could be worth $3 billion in stem cell research through 2015, including to date 307 research and facility grants totaling more than $781 million.
If any research partnerships even close to that scale can materialize at next year’s conference, Michigan’s economy — and its universities — will be that much better off.
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