Bringing together researchers, biotech leaders, and investors, the annual gathering, BioCentury Grand Rounds, is meant to build bridges between promising scientific discoveries at the academia-industry interface, connecting the ideas, people, and capital required to turn that research into life-saving medical breakthroughs.
– One of the event’s goals was to accelerate medical breakthroughs by eliminating barriers and bottlenecks between academia (universities) and industry (biotech companies).
The event also featured two Nobel Laureates: David Baker, who won a Nobel Prize for computational protein design, and Mary Brunkow, who discovered why the body’s immune system doesn’t attack its own tissues.
Attendees noted that it was no coincidence this year’s conference was in Seattle. With institutions like the Allen Institute, University of Washington, and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, the city is well positioned to bring nonprofit and academic researchers together with biotech and pharmaceutical companies.
The Allen Institute was one of two locations that hosted researchers and industry members attending the BioCentury Grand Rounds conference in Seattle, Washington