Author Posts Archive: Justin R. Masterman
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The federal government can assume a vital role in which it frames critical national challenges, facilitates the flow of information and expertise to and between regions, and helps finance, in a competitive and leveraged fashion, valuable activities that innovation clusters would otherwise be unable to undertake.
Legislation reauthorizing and updating the Small Business Innovation Research program and Small Business Technology Transfer programs has now cleared the House of Representatives and the Senate, but considerable differences between the House and Senate versions will require significant reconciliation efforts in conference committee. The outcome will be critical to the performance of these two key [...]
The Manufacturing Extension Partnership program’s evolving strategies to spur competitiveness and innovation among small- and medium-sized businesses adjusts to new challenges.
Increasingly complicated fMRI research demands increasingly sophisticated evaluations of its validity. We should neither ignore the serious problems with fMRI, nor dismiss its potential to make important scientific discoveries.
Reports this week indicate that the Obama administration is leaning towards keeping secret some information on the controversial interrogation tactics used in the CIA’s detention program. But the administration can’t keep secret recently divulged evidence suggesting that fourteen detainees were tortured in that detention program in the presence of doctors, which would constitute a significant [...]
Since the isolation of human embryonic stem cells, or hESCs, in 1998 (see the timeline: A Brief History of Stem Cell Research), scientists around the country have made significant strides laying the groundwork for clinical treatments. In January, the FDA approved the first clinical trial for a potential therapy, a treatment for spinal cord injuries. [...]
The Obama administration’s proposed FY2010 budget reflects a sweeping re-thinking of priorities for the U.S. government. A welcome change from previous budgets, the administration makes a significant investment in developing regional centers of innovation, business incubators, and other strategies to encourage entrepreneurship and high-tech development.
The importance that the Obama administration places on strong government support [...]
A recent article published in PLoS Medicine reported that human fetal neural stem cell injections used to treat the neurodegenerative disorder ataxia telangiectasia in an Israeli boy caused a multifocal brain tumor four years after his first injection. While it is unfortunate that the stem cell treatment caused such tragic medical complications for the boy, [...]
A few weeks ago, we blogged on why the administration should fund the development of high speed rail networks that can serve as the foundation of regional centers of innovation. According to a New York Times article, at the last minute the White House added an $8 billion investment in high-speed rail to the stimulus [...]
The American economic geography is changing, argues urban theorist Richard Florida in a recent article for the Atlantic. Analogous to how the Great Depression precipitated a flight to the suburbs and how the post-industrial economic anemia of the 1970’s shriveled Rust Belt cities such as Buffalo, Detroit, and Cleveland, the current economic crisis promises to [...]
Watching another episode of CBS’s CSI: Crime Scene Investigation might not be as harmless an activity as you think. According to a report released this week by the National Academy of Sciences, the millions of people who watch CSI every week are often led to believe that forensic science is infallible, and this view has [...]
Last week, Jonathan Moreno called for international standards governing reproductive technologies. But if we want to ensure that frightening decisions about genetic modification are not being made around the world, we should first focus on developing strict regulatory standards here at home.
At the moment, the United States has no existing federal policies on a host [...]
Connecting universities and professors with the companies and venture capitalists that help turn their ideas into viable businesses, the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation has launched a new website, iBridge Network, which aims to foster collaborative networks to streamline the innovation process. The site provides a centralized, open, and transparent clearinghouse for institutional technology, and encourages [...]
Human embryonic stem cell research may be the path to remarkable disease treatments and cures in the near future. While it is important to be realistic about the science and resist overly optimistic expectations that stem cells are a panacea, lifting the ban on federal support of human embryonic stem cell research should be at [...]
A study released last week by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration, in partnership with consulting firm Grant Thornton LLP, found that supporting business incubators, including those multi-dimensional support programs that help scientists with innovative ideas turn them into successful companies, is one of the most efficient and effective way to create jobs. [...]
Multiple studies have advocated for improving and modernizing the U.S. rail network as a way to spur economic growth, rein in sprawl, and make a strong commitment to sustainability. One such report, focusing on Boston, found that quality regional transportation played a significant role in fueling life sciences research.
For decades, Japan and Europe have deployed [...]
The prolonged closure of a Canadian nuclear reactor that supplies over two thirds of the world’s medical radioisotopes has severely hindered the ability of hospitals nationwide to perform a variety of procedures and diagnostic studies for diseases like cancer and heart disease.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is so underfunded and understaffed that it is putting consumers at risk to unsafe foods and drugs, according to a report, “FDA Science and Mission at Risk,” released by an advisory panel to the government agency on November 30th.
John Kanzius, a retired electrical engineer and TV and radio station owner, is developing one of the most promising new techniques to kill cancer cells.
DeCode Genetics, an Icelandic company, announced personal genome sequencing, available immediately for $985. But there’s quite a bit of fine print to consider as other companies join this infant industry.
The drug maker agreed to pay $4.85 billion to settle lawsuits from individuals who say its painkiller Vioxx led to heart attacks and strokes. Predictions put the settlement costs at $25 billion when Vioxx was taken off the market in September 2004.
A new report from the World Cancer Research Fund and the American Institute for Cancer Research is the largest study ever to explore the connection between lifestyle and cancer, and represents the work of nine independent research teams that evaluated over 7000 existing studies over five years.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently reported that 25 to 30 percent of the U.S. population carries the staph bacteria MRSA, which was for responsible for more than 94,000 life-threatening infections and 19,000 deaths in 2005.
