Surrounded on all sides by academic forerunners in life sciences research, the city of Somerville is determined not to be outdone.
Its new Somerville Life Sciences Collaborative (SLSC), which convened for the first time this summer, is designed to bring life sciences companies to Somerville and "promote a whole new industry," according to Maria Ortiz Perez, Somerville's Business Development Specialist.
Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone said he "had been envisioning this project from day one."
Boston and Somerville are on their way up in the biomedical industry. With top-flight academic institutions like Harvard, MIT, and Tufts and the "right type of light-industrial districts," Somerville fields an increasingly fertile climate for biotechnology development.
The SLSC aims to make this process even easier. The collaborative will bring together representatives from the academic, public, and private sectors in a "unified approach" to attract biotech business. How? A networking resources and a coordinated zoning plan conducive to development are crucial, Curtatone said.
The SLSC held its first meeting July 12; Vice Provost Peggy Newell represented Tufts.
Though the project is just getting off the ground, Curtatone emphasizes its obvious potential and Tufts' potential large role as a significant research University.
Since the SLCS met, Biogen, a life science company headquartered in nearby Cambridge, has decided to open up an operation in Somerville, which will likely strengthen the base for similar expansion into Somerville, Curtatone said.
"Universities are an attractive neighbor for some of these companies because of the potential for research collaborations and the availability of our graduates for employment," Newell said.
Acording to Curtatone, improvements like this are only possible through coordinated efforts, and that is why the SLSC is so crucial.
The Collaborative will not only help further future Somerville business prospects, but also current ones. One example: the Bedford Stem Cell Research Foundation, which focuses on stem cell research of the uncontentious adult cell variety.
"The Collaborative will help the Bedford Foundation to further its research endeavors and endow it with new opportunities for cooperation," said Dr. Ann Kiessling, one of the main proponents of the Collaborative and the director of the Bedford Foundation. She called their research "extremely promising."
Somerville's capacity for a successful biomedical industry has not been lost on the political sphere: Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Deval Patrick addressed the need to encourage the local biomedical industry when he spoke at Tufts earlier this year.
