The LSI's Innovation Partnership just celebrated its first anniversary. As you may remember, the Innovation Partnership provides funds, project management support, and a stellar group of external experienced mentors to move LSI basic research projects to a biological proof of concept stage in preparation for potential commercialization. In February 2009, we supported 4 projects (out of the Gestwicki, Ginsburg, Saltiel, and Weiss labs). Awards ranged from $100,000-250,000.
 
Please consider any work that you think might be appropriate for the Partnership. Though we are open to entertaining proposals at any point, we are ready right now to consider a few more new projects.
 
You can find out more about the 2009 projects on the LSI website and by talking with Jason, David, Alan, or Steve. Janene Centurione, LSI's Chief of Research Business Development will also be happy to answer your questions. We're looking forward to another exciting and fruitful year.

Contact: Janene Centurione

Learn more

Click to download the proposal submission form

Are you ever stunned by the beauty of one of the scientific images that you create in your lab? Now's the time to put that image to work: by increasing awareness of scientific discovery, revealing the elegance of the science image, and raising funds. 

Submit your images to BioArtography, through the U-M's Center for Organogenesis and you might just do all of those things. Artists will receive 5% return on all of their image sales; all else goes to fund travel and special projects for trainees and postdocs.

Images need to be high resolution; 400 pixels per inch.

The deadline is May 15, 2010.

Click for Guidelines and Submission forms

Visit the BioArtography website

The Life Sciences Orchestra here at U-M will wrap up it's tenth season with a free concert at Hill Auditorium this Sunday, April 25, at 2:00 pm. They will be playing pieces by Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, and Corigliano.  

The LSI's own Jenn Gehret, who works in Janet Smith's lab, will be there with her clarinet. Jenn is in her third year of playing with the orchestra; she joined when she started graduate school. She

Jenn Gehret at her lab bench at the LSI

says, "The LSO was a major draw for me to choose to go to grad school here. It was great to know that there was this opportunity to play in a great environment." 

It's the camaraderie that keeps it fun. Jenn describes how her interests converge, "The worlds of being a scientist and musician have a lot of similarities. In undergrad I majored in both music and biochemistry so I switch from world to world often. What strikes me most is that in both worlds there is a lot of interaction with your colleagues and both have a very friendly, vibrant community."  
 

There are also differences in approaching creativity, "As a musician you are thinking a lot about creating a piece of music, how to express a certain idea either as a group or individually when you are performing. I think creativity in science is a lot different and happens more when you are planning and/or interpreting experiments rather than in the performance of lab work.  

Jenn is thrilled to play beside doctors, med students, nurses, and other scientists, "While they are all passionate about music they all have other day jobs. It's a nice balance and it stays low-key and fun even though we put a lot of work into the concert."

Jenn is also the recipient of the 2010 Adam and Mary J. Christman Award, which is presented to the most outstanding student in the third-year Biological Chemistry class.

Focused on innovation clusters in Boston, San Diego, and Seattle, Xconomy aims "to become the authoritative voice on the exponential economy, the realm of business and innovation characterized by exponential technological growth and responsible for an increasing share of productivity and overall economic growth."

And now they have opened Xconomy Detroit, covering innovation in the areas of the life sciences, information technology, and the general entrepreneurial spirit unique to the Motor City and the state of Michigan.

Relying on local Xconomists for the latest on trends, on-the-ground knowledge, and predictions for the future of innovation in Michigan, Xconomy has gathered an impressive group, including some with ties to the Life Sciences Institute.

David Munson, U-M dean of engineering and member of the LSI's Executive Committee

Roger Newton, founder of Esperion and former SVP for Pfizer Global R & D; member of the LSI's Leadership Council

Alan Saltiel, Mary Sue Coleman Director of the LSI and cell biologist  

Read the full article about Xconomy's Detroit presence here