In a panel on “How Academia Can Help Drive Our Region’s Biotech Cluster,” Dr. Jay Perman, President, University of Maryland, Baltimore, joined other local academic leaders today to discuss ways that Maryland, Virginia and DC can become a more robust innovation and biotech regional hub fueled by the region’s local academic institutions. Additional panelists included Ronald Daniels, President, John Hopkins University; Freeman Hrabowski, III, President, University of Maryland, Baltimore County; and Michael Rao, Ph.D., President, Virginia Commonwealth University.

The panel was part of Day One of the first Maryland Regional Biotech Forum, held at MedImmune in Gaithersburg, Maryland, and co-hosted by the Tech Council of Maryland and BioHealth Innovation, Inc., in addition to MedImmune.

Said Dr. Perman, culture change in academia is fostered by “rewarding people for entrepreneurship. We tell them, ‘part of your job is to take your discovery and BUILD. Get it out of the laboratory. Get it to startups. Get investors.’”

In terms of specifically helping to grow the region, he added that because we lack physical contiguity, we need to foster “ongoing efforts between multiple institutions and companies like MedImmune to drive collaboration. This is incredibly important for bringing scientists together and overcoming the local geographic challenges.”