The following is an excerpt from The Boston Globe‘s coverage of the Globe Summit and the panel discussion that MassBio CEO and President Kendalle Burlin O’Connell participated:
Massachusetts health care leaders have weathered nearly 11 months of seismic blows and substantial damage to the research ecosystem. Now, they’re looking to an uncertain future that threatens the pipeline of trained scientists.
During a Globe Summit panel on Tuesday on the future of research hosted by Globe editor Nancy Barnes, hospital and industry executives expressed fear that the federal funding roller coaster will dissuade bright students from pursuing research.
“This feeling of uncertainty is actually very insidious in that it affects people’s career choices,” said Dr. Benjamin Ebert, president and CEO of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. “It affects people who are thinking about coming to Boston from all over the world to do their training, to do research, and if that changes, our ability to attract the best and brightest from all over— that will have a long-term impact on our city and in our ecosystem.”
The industry is adjusting to the new landscape. Academic medical centers are moving toward more public-private partnerships. Researchers are pursuing grants from private organizations. Funding for early-stage research companies is picking up, said MassBio president and CEO, Kendalle Burlin O’Connell, although that funding flow looks different now.
“We’re seeing what’s called mega rounds, so over $100 million rounds,” Burlin O’Connell said. “What we used to see a couple years ago was it sprinkled around, maybe 200 rounds to different companies, and the average round was about $30 or $40 million.”
The Bay State can’t rest on its history as the national leader in health care, said Dr. Kevin Tabb, president and CEO of Beth Israel Lahey Health.
“We have to work at it,” Tabb said. “I think the good news is that all of the leaders, whether that’s in the academic health centers, the research institutions, biotech, and local government, know that we need to work at it.”