Entrepreneurs — missing link in training scientists

Ours is an age of almost unprecedented scientific achievement. Still, turning laboratory advances into medical therapies has proved surprisingly difficult. While our universities have little trouble churning out basic researchers or skilled clinicians, we seem unable to train — or even identify — those who might specialize in bridging the gap between lab and patient.

A solution may yet be within easy grasp — if only we are able to recognize it. For so-called translational research is exactly what is happening every day in the dozens of start-up companies that dot the landscape of San Francisco and other university centers. These companies are exclusively focused on turning science into application, and they represent an entrepreneur’s best effort at solving this problem.

The question now is whether academic leaders can overcome their intrinsic distrust of the private sector and embrace the very real opportunities that exist just beyond their ivy walls.

David A. Shaywitz

Full Story: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2005/10/27/EDG2NFE0QM1.DTL