by Register-Guard Staff
Lane County companies and agencies pulled in just over $55 million in grants from the National Institutes of Health in the latest federal fiscal year, a sign of the vibrancy of the county’s medical research, education and bioscience industries, officials said Friday.
Lane County ventures comprised nine of the top 25 Oregon recipients of NIH funding for the 12 months ended Sept. 30, 2002, said Jack Roberts, executive director of the Lane Metro Partnership, a business advocacy group.
The $55 million constitutes just under a quarter of the $233.5 million that Oregon ventures received in total in NIH grants in that period, the group said.
The local recipients were:
- The University of Oregon: $20.7 million.
- Oregon Research Institute: $15.4 million. ORI conducts research on chronic illness, childhood problems, substance abuse and tobacco cessation.
- Oregon Social Learning Center: $9.8 million. OSLC researches childhood problems.
- Oregon Center for Applied Science: $4.25 million. ORCAS produces multimedia programs for smoking cessation and other issues.
- Iris Media Inc.: $1.3 million. The firm produces educational materials to help schools work with developmentally disabled children.
- Electrical Geodesics Inc.: $780,352 7. The firm makes sensors to track brain-wave activity.
- Deschutes Research, Inc.: $578,262. The firm produces smoking cessation materials.
- Northwest Media Inc.: $505,080. The firm published educational magazines for youngsters.
- Helix Research Co.: $421,156. The firm makes fluorescent materials for the medical industry.
- Molecular Probes Inc.: $394,241. The firm makes fluorescent materials for the biomedical research.
The data were released at the 2003 Oregon Bioscience and Medical Technology Conference held recently in Portland.
“This is a vital sector in our diverse economic landscape,” Roberts said. The federal funding is especially welcome in the current economic downturn, Roberts added.
The NIH grants help companies and agencies conduct research in a wide range of fields.
Reprinted with permission. Copyright 2003, The Register-Guard, www.registerguard.com.