By Cal State LA News Service
Collaboration is at the heart of California State University, Los Angeles' efforts to support the growth of Southern California's bioscience industry.
Working with industry partners, Cal State LA promotes bioscience innovation in various ways, including networking events. More than 80 entrepreneurs, life science executives, faculty, students and other business community members gathered at Cal State LA’s downtown campus for a summer biotech innovator spotlight on July 25.
The networking event, hosted by LA BioStart and Cal State LA’s College of Professional and Global Education, was one of an ongoing series of industry convenings organized by LA BioStart to give members of the local bioscience community regular opportunities to connect in person. Professor Jill Adler-Moore of Cal Poly Pomona was the featured innovator. Adler-Moore invented the groundbreaking antifungal drug AmBisome.
“It was a special opportunity to have Jill Adler-Moore share her experience and perspectives in an informal setting,” said Howard Xu, director of incubator development and programming for LA BioSpace, and a professor of microbiology at Cal State LA. “Dr. Adler-Moore has been a mentor to me and so many CSU colleagues and students; this gathering gave our LA BioStart participants and industry supporters a chance to ask her for tips useful to their own projects.”
Jose A. Gomez, Cal State LA’s executive vice president and chairman of the advisory board for the university’s LA BioSpace incubator, noted that innovator spotlights are an important supplement to the classroom instruction segments of LA BioStart. “These events are a great way to get folks out of their labs and offices for a bit to enjoy each other’s company and make connections. Sometimes great ideas and inspiration come from these encounters,” he said.
The July gathering was sponsored by Molecular GPS Technologies™ and Pasadena Bio Collaborative Incubator.
Photo: Left to right, Justin Cassity, associate dean, College of Professional and Global Education; Cloe Zimmerman, project assistant, LA BioStart; Jill Adler-Moore, professor of microbiology, Cal Poly Pomona; Gary Fujii, president and CEO, Molecular Express, Inc.; Robert "Bud" Bishop, president of Pasadena Bio Collaborative Incubator; and Howard Xu, professor of microbiology, Cal State LA, and director of LA BioStart. (Credit: Cal State LA)
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