Spring Break
Plans in progress for "Science City" at satellite campus
Issue date: 12/4/08
Plans for a proposed new "Science City" at the Hopkins satellite campus in Gaithersburg, Md. are under development by members of local government, universities and biotech companies in an effort to expand on the region's bioinformatics research.
The science vision, dubbed Vision 2030 (since it is expected to be realized by 2030), intends to encourage collaboration between federal agencies, academic research and industry.
Federal agencies like the National Institute of Health, the U.S. Department of Energy and the Food and Drug Administration would be situated within a part of the 700 acres that would also include the Johns Hopkins University, the University of Maryland and private companies.
By putting the development, testing and manufacturing stages of development together, this vision seeks to streamline the bioinformatics sector of research in Montgomery County.
"What is critical is the ability to advance both the pace of discovery and the commerce of those discoveries through more collaborative interdisciplinary research across the federal lab biotech industry and education sectors," David McDonough, the senior director of development oversight for Johns Hopkins real estate, said.
"These things do not happen overnight, so we're looking at a 20-year plan to bring together scientists from federal labs, Hopkins and other schools and private companies in order to come up with a land use plan that supports our science vision."
Such an extensive plan requires extensive cooperation among local government officials as well. The plan has gained local support, including support from Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett.
"We think it's an important piece of the life science strategy and we are very supportive of a master plan amendment to further grow our life sciences industry," Assistant Chief Administrative Officer Schwartz Jones said of the proposed amendment. "It's a key element of the Montgomery County economic development strategy. There are lots of higher paying jobs in the biosciences industry; it's very science based and very research tech based and [now] it can be manufacturing based."
The science vision, dubbed Vision 2030 (since it is expected to be realized by 2030), intends to encourage collaboration between federal agencies, academic research and industry.
Federal agencies like the National Institute of Health, the U.S. Department of Energy and the Food and Drug Administration would be situated within a part of the 700 acres that would also include the Johns Hopkins University, the University of Maryland and private companies.
By putting the development, testing and manufacturing stages of development together, this vision seeks to streamline the bioinformatics sector of research in Montgomery County.
"What is critical is the ability to advance both the pace of discovery and the commerce of those discoveries through more collaborative interdisciplinary research across the federal lab biotech industry and education sectors," David McDonough, the senior director of development oversight for Johns Hopkins real estate, said.
"These things do not happen overnight, so we're looking at a 20-year plan to bring together scientists from federal labs, Hopkins and other schools and private companies in order to come up with a land use plan that supports our science vision."
Such an extensive plan requires extensive cooperation among local government officials as well. The plan has gained local support, including support from Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett.
"We think it's an important piece of the life science strategy and we are very supportive of a master plan amendment to further grow our life sciences industry," Assistant Chief Administrative Officer Schwartz Jones said of the proposed amendment. "It's a key element of the Montgomery County economic development strategy. There are lots of higher paying jobs in the biosciences industry; it's very science based and very research tech based and [now] it can be manufacturing based."
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