S&T News from the United States

September — October 2006

This bi-monthly newsletter focuses on U.S. science and technology policy and increasingly on the Government of Canada's activities in promoting and developing science and technology collaborations between Canada and the United States. Please contact the Trade Commissioner (Science and Technology), Valérie La Traverse, for any comments or further information.

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Government Beat

Congress delays final action on science funding bills

View the table detailing the status of the current appropriations bills

Estimates of the effect of investment in R&D on U.S. economic growth released

The Department of Commerce's Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) released a preliminary R&D satellite account estimating the effect of investment in R&D on the U.S. economy. Satellite accounts are supplementary estimates that don't change official national accounts but offer greater detail than the national income and product accounts, and permit specific analysis of a particular aspect of the economy. The estimates suggest that R&D accounted for a significant share of the resurgence in U.S. economic growth in recent years. Between 1995-2002, its contribution to growth in real GDP was 6.5%. BEA's estimates measure only the direct impact of R&D investment and don't include the effect of R&D beyond those in the industries that conducted the R&D.

The Department of Commerce announced the formation of the Measuring Innovation in the 21st Century Advisory Committee in August, composed of top business leaders and academics, to consider how best to measure the impact of innovation.

Read the 77-page document, R&D Satellite Account: Preliminary Estimates

Science activists form a new political committee

Learn more about SEforA

Draft ocean science report

Provide comments on the draft document

Energy, energy, and more energy….

Congress tackles greenhouse gases

Read the CBO's report
or the Air & Waste Management Association's news release

DOE guidelines to promote clean energy technology

Read more about it from the Federal Register Online

USDA and DOE work to promote bio-based fuels

Learn more about it from the DOE website: here and here

Senate committee hearing on hydrogen and fuel cell R&D

Learn more about the Hydrogen Fuel Initiative

Department of Energy unveils Climate Change Technology Program

Read more about the Climate Change Technology Program

House passes alternative energy bill authorizing $402 million for research

Read the H.R. 6203 bill summary

Department of Defense (DoD)

Proposal to restrict foreign scientists shelved

Read more about it from the Federal Register Online

Department of Homeland Security (DHS)

DHS appoints new undersecretary for science and technology

Read the press release

House passes bill to create new Biodefence Agency

To read the legislation visit http://thomas.loc.gov and enter " H.R. 5533 "

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Institutional Beat

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

NASA and USAF join forces

NASA and the U.S. Air Force recently forged a research partnership by signing an agreement that encourages research collaborations in areas such as advanced aircraft design, propulsion development, materials development and aviation safety. The partnership fosters innovation by facilitating information exchange, reducing research duplication, and enhancing long-term research planning for both organizations.

Read the press release

NASA education plan

This August, NASA's Education Office released a framework to work with educators to prepare the next generation of explorers and innovators. The Education Strategic Coordination Framework encourages partnerships with academia, industry and informal educators to encourage more students to pursue studies in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). This educational plan is a reminder of NASA commitment to students, educators, and researchers in its programs. "Through this framework, NASA will support the country's educators who play a key role in engaging and preparing today's young minds to lead the nation's laboratories and research centers of tomorrow," John Hairston, acting Assistant Administrator for Education said August 11.

Read the press release
or read the Education Strategic Coordination Framework

Three quit NASA Science Committee

Three members of the NASA science advisory committee have resigned, two after having been asked to leave by Administrator Michael Griffin. The two members asked to leave were Wesley Huntress, the director of the Geophysical Laboratory of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, and Eugene Levy, a physicist and provost of Rice University in Houston. The third, former committee chairman, Charles Kennel, willingly resigned. All three former members had expressed concern about cuts to the space science budget, which will undergo a 17% decrease from 2007-2010, and urged the agency to finance a broader program of scientific research. Levy, along with many other scientists, are concerned that Bush's January 2004 plan to send astronauts to the moon and then to Mars is too expensive. In addition to budgetary cuts, the agency has proposed diverting money from planned increases in research. Levy said he voiced concerns that NASA's long-term budget plans could do serious damage to progress in earth and space science due to lack of funding. Dean Acosta, a NASA spokesman, explained the men had been asked to resign because they did not give advice "based on the priorities that NASA has, and the parameters that have been set." The science advisory committee chairman position has been filled by Dr. Edward David Jr.

National Institutes of Health (NIH)

House bill passed to restructure NIH

The House passed legislation intended to restructure the National Institutes of Health, boost its budget and encourage research across multiple medical disciplines. The bill, introduced by Energy and Commerce Chairman Joe L. Barton (R-Texas) would reauthorize the NIH for the first time since 1993. It would authorize a 5 percent increase annually from the agency's $28 billion budget and create a "common fund" to pay for research involving more than one of NIH's 27 centres. One provision would give the agency's director the authority to eliminate or consolidate existing NIH institutes, with notice to Congress. The measure would also set up a committee to periodically review the agency's organizational structure and advise the director of necessary changes.

Lawmakers and the scientific and medical community, broadly support the legislation but some Democrats have expressed minor concerns: they have said they feared the bill might weaken Congress' oversight of NIH and wanted the legislation to authorize even bigger increases in the agency's budget. Some scientists have worried that the common fund would siphon money from traditional research projects.

The Senate will not have time to consider this measure this Congress and the bill will likely have to be reintroduced.

Read more about the House bill

Niederhuber appointed NCI Director

The National Cancer Institute, the biggest component of the NIH, appointed John Niederhuber as its next director. Few were surprised when President Bush announced the appointment, as Niederhuber had been acting director since June. Niederhuber led the University of Wisconsin's Comprehensive Cancer Centre, and is an accomplished cancer surgeon. He plans to continue running an NCI laboratory in Maryland.

Read the press release

NIH seeks brevity

The NIH is looking to shorten grant applications. The NIH Center for Scientific Review, tired of wading through applications 25 pages long with unlimited appendices, said it is considering a maximum application length of 15 pages with no appendices. This fall NIH will be requesting input on the issue.

Read the press release

NIH ethics concerns

A House Committee on Energy and Commerce oversight subcommittee questioned officials from the NIH and the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps (PHSCC) September 13, 2006, regarding the treatment of two well-known NIH scientists accused of serious misconduct. The scientists in question are Dr. Trey Sunderland, of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and Dr. Thomas Walsh, of the National Cancer Institute (NCI). Neither disclosed that they had received hundreds of thousands of dollars in consultation fees.

The committee members admonished the NIH and PHSCC because both scientists are still employed at NIH. As members of the PHSCC, neither Sunderland nor Walsh can be fired by the NIH, although the directors of both NIMH and NCI have requested the scientists be terminated.

When ranking subcommittee member Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI) suggested nothing had changed at NIH since the initial subcommittee ethics investigation four years ago, NIH Deputy Director Raynard Kington disagreed. He stated the NIH responded aggressively to the cases brought to light by the investigation, and that thirty-four of the scientists who faced allegations of misconduct received disciplinary action and two are facing possible criminal charges. In addition, the NIH banned all its employees from acting as consultants in any capacity.

Although both Sunderland and Walsh still conduct research for the NIH, their actions have been restricted and are closely monitored by NIH officials.

Read the Committee on Energy and Commerce press release

NIH proposes human genetic database

The NIH is looking to create a centralized genetic database to encourage the exchange of genetic information between scientists. The repository would allow researchers to determine the potential genetic contributions to diseases by searching DNA for similarities between afflicted individuals, and comparing them to healthy individuals.

Although collecting, submitting, and searching the information to be contained in the database is a laborious task, it will be a step in the direction of genome-based medicine, a promising field in biomedicine. According to a notice included in Federal Register August 30, 2006, the genetic information included in the database will be collected from all NIH-sponsored research in genome-wide associative studies. Basic descriptive information about each study will be available through the database, although only scientists approved by the NIH Data Access Committee will be granted access to the health and genetic information.

Concerns have been raised that the genetic information could be linked to the individual patients. Despite reassurances from NIH that it would require all data to be submitted without identifiable information and used only with patient consent, bioethicists suggest it would be nearly impossible to make the database risk-free.

The NIH is seeking questions and comments on the various aspects of the database including patient privacy, the sharing of information, and intellectual property rights until October 31.

Read more about it from the Federal Register Online

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Science in the News

Unknown risks of nanotechnology: recent actions and reports in the U.S.

There is growing unease in the commercial and public sectors concerning the unknown risks associated with nano-sized particles being incorporated into consumer products. Products using nanotechnology are becoming more widespread, and consumer advocates question whether there are risks when nano-sized products are ingested or inhaled. The main concern is with particles that fall outside the purview of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), or the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the idea that products could end up on the market without a proper assessment of their risks.

There is some action being taken in the U.S. The chemical firm DuPont, along with the New York non-profit group Environmental Defense, is working to develop a framework for companies to assess nanotech risk; and the EPA, along with the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, is exploring plans whereby companies voluntarily report nanotech risk findings. The FDA has recently set up an internal nanotech task force which will determine regulatory approaches to safeguard products using nanotech, and allow the agency to evaluate potential adverse health effects. A public meeting was organized by the FDA on October 10, 2006 to assess nanotech risk.

Some question the U.S. government's commitment to assessing nanotechnology risks. By its own estimate it spent $40 million on risk research in 2005, when an independent review of research found only $11 million had been spent in those areas. In addition, the Project for Emerging Nanotechnology lays blame on federal agencies, in a report released this September, of not acting to answer the questions that will arise once nanotech use is widespread. As nanoproducts quickly develop from coating and films into novel nanostructures, more risk research is needed. "If this research is not done, consumer and environmental health could suffer in two ways: by being exposed to potentially harmful products, or, if unfounded fears slow the approval process or lead to over-regulation, by being deprived of what could be very beneficial innovations," the Project's report warned.

The EPA is hosting a meeting, October 19-20, to solicit public questions and comments on worker training, hazard communication, engineering controls, personal protective equipment, and product labels as they relate to nanoscale materials.

Visit the FDA's nanotechnology website
or read the Project on Emerging Technologies' report

Competitiveness: Inaction in Congress leads to other initiatives

It has been almost a year since the release of an influential National Academies Report, but despite the number of competitiveness bills introduced as a result, none have been enacted. The report, "Rising Above the Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future," warned the U.S. that without increased spending on scientific research, and math and science education, the country's ability to compete on the technology-driven global market is threatened.

Again the U.S. is reminded of its need to produce more scientists and engineers, at the release of the annual education report from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which presents comprehensive data on the education systems of its 30 member democracies. The report stated that although the U.S. remains the leader in overall proportion of adults (aged 25 to 64) who hold an associate degree or higher, that lead disappears in younger age subsets (aged 25 to 34) where the U.S. falls to seventh place, behind top-ranked Canada. The report also projects the U.S. will see a decline in the proportion of adults who hold an associate degree or higher, fall by 5% over the next five years.

Frustrated with how Congress has been moving slowly to address the National Academies report or Bush's proposal, the National Governors Association announced the year-long "Innovation America" initiative at this summer's annual meeting. "To be competitive as a nation, we must prepare our young people to meet the real demands of the job market," said Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano, who unveiled the initiative. As part of the initiative, the NGA will: raise national awareness of the need to embrace innovation as the path to maintaining U.S. competitiveness; give each governor an economic profile of their state, including high growth innovation and science and math proficiencies; host regional learning labs and workshops to help states improve STEM education; and create new science and math academies to improve student achievement.

Late in September, about 800 policymakers, educators, business leaders, and researchers from across the country attended a National Academies event in Washington to encourage bold leadership on initiatives to strengthen U.S. competitiveness. They identified actions that state and local officials can take within the next six months to foster job growth, improve education, and enhance the environment for innovation.

Go to the webcast

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News from Canadian Consulates in the U.S.

Canada-California Strategic Innovation Partnership Gaining Momentum

The Canada-California Strategic Innovation Partnership (CCSIP) Initiative, launched last January, has quickly gained momentum with several proposals being developed simultaneously. The CCSIP is an informal process of collaboration and exchange between the University of California system and Canada, involving academic, private sector, financial and public sector organizations, and champions the development of new partnerships in strategic priority innovation-intensive areas leading to the commercialization of innovation. The Initiative champions the development of new models of cooperation and specific projects in a limited number of innovation-intensive areas that are priorities in both jurisdictions such as stem cells and regenerative medicine, ICT/broadband Internet connectivity, advanced transportation and energy, and infectious diseases. The Bilateral Steering Committee of the CCSIP is also working to more fully engage industry and venture capital and to maximize the development of highly-qualified human resources in support of all sectoral efforts. An early success has been achieved with the completion of a broadband networking link between CANARIE CAnet4 and the Corporation for Education Network Initiatives in California (CENIC). Completed in just five months, the novel infrastructure and optical connections can deliver up to 10gigabits/sec to an individual researcher.

For more information on the CCSIP, please contact:
Eric Holdrinet, Trade Commissioner
Canadian Consulate General, Los Angeles, CA

Annual Micro Nano Breakthrough Conference

The second annual Micro Nano Breakthrough Conference in Vancouver, Washington, (across the Columbia river from Portland, Oregon) brought together approximately 300 researchers and company officials for 2 ½ days of presentations and plenary sessions. The conference was organized by ONAMI (Oregon Nanoscience and Microtechnologies Institute) and the Washington Nanotechnology Initiative. The key conference sponsors were HP, FEI Company, TriQuint Semiconductor and Invitrogen. Oregon is home to the ninth-largest technology economy in the U.S.- much of it rooted in materials sciences, semiconductors, and nano-tech/nano instrumentation. Canadian companies and researchers should consider attending this annual conference which will be held next year in mid-September in Portland, Oregon.

For more information, contact:
John Pearce, Trade Commissioner
Canadian Consulate General, Seattle, WA

Larta Venture Forum

After 11 years in Los Angeles, the Larta Venture Forum moved to the Bay Area in June 2006. The event represents one of the U.S.'s largest technology pipelines from universities, a global network of partners, and U.S. federal agencies - including companies working with the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Institute of Standards and Technology's Advanced Technology Program (NIST's ATP), and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

Over 1,000 people from 8 countries and 37 U.S. states, drawn from industry, the investment community, both venture and angel investors, entrepreneurs and service professionals, attended the two-day funding and partnering forum to witness this year's crop of early-stage companies in the largest and longest-running tech event of its kind. Canada's presence was the strongest international one, with a pavillion regrouping seven carefully selected and mentored innovating companies. The quality of those firms was judged to be exceptional by the events organizer, and a Canadian company even won a Best of Show Award: Tidal Photonics (Vancouver, BC), http://www.tidalphotonics.com/

Tidal Photonics is introducing the concept of "intelligent lighting" to the Medical Devices field in the U.S. market. Last year over $45 billion worth of products were sold that use light to make measurements, analyze samples, or diagnose and treat disease. These products use sensitive and costly digital imaging and measurement devices to measure light, but still rely on complex older mechanical technologies for illumination.

For more information, contact:
Eric Holdrinet, Trade Commissioner
Canadian Consulate General, Los Angeles, CA

Invitation to participate in a Medical Devices Strategic Mentorship and Partnering Program

The Canadian Consulate General in Los Angeles and the Larta Institute (www.larta.org), have partnered to create a unique 3-phase mentorship and partnering program designed for Canadian medical device companies interested in engaging the U.S. market. The purpose of the program is to provide Canadian medical device companies with valuable market preparation and mentorship by experienced experts, networking within one of the U.S.'s largest medical device clusters and one-on-one meetings with U.S. medical device companies.

There is no limit to the type of company that may apply. The medical device communities of the U.S., and more specifically Southern California, are very diverse. They have the ability to assist a wide variety of Canadian companies and their various needs.

Every year Larta Institute assists over 200 companies spinning out of the U.S. federal government, 25+ top research universities, and a global network of 18 nations. Larta Institute manages global technology commercialization programs for innovators and provides investors and large corporations with a pipeline of cutting-edge innovations from leading government and research institutions.

For more information, contact:
Chris Major, Trade Commissioner
Canadian Consulate General, Los Angeles, CA

University of California at Berkeley debuts extensive website on applicability of U.S. export controls to university research and other activities

The Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research at the University of California at Berkeley has launched a new, very extensive website on how U.S. export controls apply to university research and other activities. As the introductory webpage notes, "[e]xport controls present unique challenges to universities because they require balancing concerns about national security and U.S. economic vitality with traditional concepts of unrestricted academic freedom and publication and dissemination of research findings and results." Among other things, the website contains a list of "do's and don'ts" for researchers, a decision tree, and links to other export control compliance resources.

Visit the website

The Burnham Institute selects Orlando, Florida

California-based Burnham Institute for Medical Research has decided to locate their East Coast operations adjacent to University of Central Florida's new Medical School in Lake Nona, south of Orlando, Florida. The Burnham Institute plans to build a 175,000-square-foot, 300-person research facility. Company goals for Florida are expected to include expansion of capabilities in chemistry, pharmacology, and functional genomics, themes that will complement and fortify the Institute's current commitments to cancer, degenerative diseases, and infectious diseases, and which will allow expansion into other areas such as diabetes and obesity research.

Burnham will receive $310 million in state and local money, land and a list of perks. In addition, a University of Florida (UF) satellite research facility will also be built close by. The complex should be completed two years from now. By combining public and private research institutions with businesses, Florida is hoping to build a biotechnology industry in the state with all development stages from basic research to commercialization.

For more information, contact:
Hélène Forest, Trade Commissioner
Consulate General of Canada, Miami, FL

Bioenergy Technology Exchange Session hosted by Canadian Consulate General in Detroit

The Canadian Consulate General in Detroit and Miller Canfield will jointly host a Bioenergy Technology Exchange Session in conjunction with "Tomorrow's Energy…Today" (www.sme.org) on the morning of Monday, October 23. Following breakfast and a keynote speaker, 16 selected Canadian and U.S. companies from the industry will make brief presentations concerning their capabilities and collaboration opportunities.

For more information, contact:
Josy Parrotta-Marck, Trade Commissioner
Canadian Consulate General, Detroit, MI

Canada-U.S. stem cell initiative

On June 29, 2006, the Canadian Government Trade Office in Princeton, with the support of Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Regional Office in Toronto, held a luncheon for stem cell researchers from Canada and the U.S. The luncheon was held during the International Society for Stem Cell Research conference and included over 40 research scientists. Keynote speakers for the lunch included CIHR's Dr. Eric Marcotte and Dr. Belinda Seto of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Their message was clear: both funding institutions are funding stem cell research, are actively seeking projects in this area and, would welcome cross border collaborative projects to review. The initiative is designed to help establish cross border collaborations in stem cell research.

For more information, contact:
Tab Borden, Trade Commissioner
Canadian Government Trade Office, Princeton, NJ

Licensing technology to pharmaceutical companies

Over the last couple of years the need for pharmaceutical companies to fill their pipelines has intensified, to a point where they are interested in seeking technologies as early as the lab bench. Only a few years ago, only Phase II and beyond were considered: that has changed. Fifteen of the top twenty pharmaceutical companies have corporate or North American headquarters located in the tri-state area of New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut. Relationships have been developed with most of the license directors at these companies and they have indicated a desire to source good Canadian technologies and to work with the Trade Commissioner Service to assist with outreach.

If this is part of your growth plan, contact:
Tab Borden, Trade Commissioner
Canadian Government Trade Office, Princeton, NJ

Pfizer seeking to invest

Pfizer's Strategic Investments Group (PSIG), the venture capital arm of Pfizer Global Pharmaceuticals, is seeking to invest in promising, innovative businesses that can deliver high financial returns, while focusing specifically on areas of strategic interest to Pfizer. The sectors that they currently target for investment are:

• Sales and Marketing Applications
• Clinical Trials Technologies
• Predictive Modeling (including systems biology and evidence-based medicine)
• Diagnostics (relevant to Pfizer therapeutic products)
• Personalized Medicine (molecular diagnostics)
• Connectivity Solutions for various constituencies in healthcare

In determining a potential investment's strategic significance, they strongly consider companies that would enhance Pfizer's current positioning in the healthcare industry, as well as companies that would create cross-over opportunities from other industries or areas of healthcare in which Pfizer wants to strengthen its role.

For more information, contact:
Dina Santos, Consul, Science, Innovation and Technology
Canadian Consulate General, New York, NY

BioFusion Technology Partnering Conference, Durham, NC

An eight-member Canadian delegation, including Dr. Roman Szumski, Vice President, Life Sciences, National Research Council, and Dr. Michael Mayne, Director of Research, NRC Institute of Nutrisciences and Health, were speakers at the Biofusion Technology Partnering Conference, held in Durham, NC, September 17-19, 2006.

This ERI project, organized by the Canadian Consulate in Raleigh and the Consulate General in Atlanta, was supported by the National Research Council, Industry Canada, and ACOA. The conference provided a platform to highlight cutting edge Canadian technologies, including applications for genomics, the nutrisciences, and drug development. A special Nutriscience/Nutraceutical workshop, attended by 30 companies and institutions, including GSK, 3M Healthcare, and the NC Research Campus (www.ncresearchcampus.com), focused on the goals, needs, resources, and areas for partnerships between the U.S. and Canada in the nutrisciences. Results included increased awareness of Canadian technologies; initial discussions for potential business deals and R&D collaborations; and a commitment to continue developing these initial discussions.

For more information, contact:
Elizabeth Robinson, Trade Commissioner
Canadian Consulate, Raleigh, NC

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