According to Dov S. Zakheim, the commission’s executive director, Rhode Island has significant potential to do just that. There are many places in the country where scientists are conducting important basic and applied research, he said, but many struggle to take discoveries beyond their laboratories and develop them into treatments and therapeutics available to people who need them. 

“Rhode Island is almost unique in terms of the biomedical innovation ecosystem, and especially in terms of biomanufacturing,” Zakheim said. “It is a model for what we want to do countrywide.”

Showcasing innovation with impact

Jain noted that Brown sits at the intersection of many of the issues before the commission: basic and translational science; medicine and public health; engineering, data and artificial intelligence; national security; and the education and training of the next generation of scientists and innovators. 

“We see firsthand both the extraordinary promise of biotechnology and the importance of ensuring that the United States has the talent, infrastructure, partnerships and policies needed to translate that promise into national strength,” Jain said.

The commissioners had closed-door conversations with Brown faculty about research, funding and scientific progress in areas where the University is a leader: RNA science, genomics, neuroscience, neurotechnology, healthy aging and more. 

They also toured the labs of Brown’s director of biomedical engineering, Anubhav Tripathi, who started a company that manufactures a platform for identifying and analyzing RNA modifications; and Jill Kreiling, a professor of molecular biology, cell biology and biochemistry (research), whose team focuses on identifying biomarkers of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases.

The commissioners said they were impressed by how a relatively modest investment by the National Institutes of Health in work by Brown researchers has the potential to turn into massive health benefits for the general population. They also noted the collaborative nature of the research conducted at Brown, which Kreiling unintentionally underscored when she mentioned running into a colleague while waiting for the commissioners to arrive, engaging in a conversation about recent discoveries, and planning a new research project together.

“It’s not just the collaboration with governments and university,” Zakheim said. “It’s the collaboration within university disciplines. Brown’s multidisciplinary approach here is particularly important when you’re talking about biotech, which is an amalgamation of a variety of different engineering processes and other disciplines. The whole approach of the School of Engineering, and the University, was very exciting.”