University of Florida, Scripps strengthening collaborations

October 25, 2005

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The University of Florida and The Scripps Research Institute are taking steps to streamline scientific collaborations that have already resulted in research in areas including breast cancer, memory loss and blindness.

Several UF researchers already had collaborations with colleagues at Scripps Research in La Jolla, Calif., before Gov. Jeb Bush and the Florida Legislature recruited the Institute to develop a new campus in Palm Beach County. Now, as dozens of newly recruited scientists begin to relocate to Scripps Florida’s temporary facilities in Jupiter and later to its planned 350,000-square-foot state-of-the-art biomedical research facility, UF and Scripps officials see many additional opportunities for collaboration.

On Friday (Oct. 21), UF Vice President for Research Win Phillips and Polly Murphy, senior vice president for business and scientific services at Scripps Research, signed an agreement that reduces the time and paperwork required to share information. The result is a streamlined process intended to encourage and support research collaborations.

“Researchers at both UF and Scripps share a desire to explore opportunities for collaborative scientific relationships, building on their respective strengths,” Murphy said. “UF brings to the table a broad expertise in the life sciences, and Scripps is developing a Florida-based, state-of-the-art infrastructure for biomedical research, creating opportunities for significant collaborations among scientists.”

Research is not all that will be shared. Scripps Florida and UF have also agreed to collaborate on filing patents for jointly developed technologies and to share revenues from commercialized innovations.

“Each institution is obligated to protect its intellectual property,” Phillips said, “but by agreeing on many of the details in advance, we can do that while simultaneously encouraging collaboration.”

Scripps Research is internationally recognized for its research into immunology, molecular and cellular biology, chemistry, neurosciences, autoimmune, cardiovascular and infectious diseases, and synthetic vaccine development. Scripps Florida is specializing in drug discovery.

UF is Florida’s leading biomedical research engine, attracting more than $257 million in research funding to its Health Science Center last year, including $130 million from the National Institutes of Health.

An example of current collaborations is the work of UF neuroscientist Leonid Moroz on the giant sea slug (Aplysia californica). Using the sea slug as a model to study the nervous system, Moroz is collaborating with Mark Gosink at Scripps Florida to develop a database of information regarding gene expression in individual cells involved in memory formation to help researchers advance their understanding of the nervous system’s role in learning and memory.

UF ophthalmology assistant professor Shalesh Kaushal is collaborating with Jennifer Busby, associate director of the Scripps Florida Proteomics Program, on a project to study the structure of mutant proteins in the eye to identify potential treatments for retinal degenerative diseases.

UF surgical faculty William Cance and Elena Kurenova are working with Scripps Florida’s translational research chief Patrick Griffin to identify new breast cancer therapies. Cance is internationally known for his genetic investigations on the mechanisms of tumor survival.

Researchers from both Florida campuses are sharing scientific resources — such as DNA sequencing equipment and animal care facilities — and developing educational collaborations that would enable graduate students and post-doctoral researchers to study in Gainesville and West Palm Beach.

“The ultimate beneficiaries of this collaborative relationship are the people whose lives will be improved by the new technologies developed by researchers from both campuses,” said Phillips.