News Notes

A new strategic alliance has brought two countries separated by the Atlantic Ocean closer together, with Maryland becoming the first state to enter into a biotechnology agreement with Scotland. University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute's (UMBI) president Jennie Hunter-Cevera joined representatives from Maryland and Scotland's biotech communities at a recent ceremony where an agreement was signed designed to increase business and scientific collaborations. Hunter-Cevera was part of a 14-member delegation that spent four days visiting the "Tartan Triangle," formed by the universities of Dundee, Edinburgh, and Glasgow. Hunter-Cevera says that Maryland and Scotland are on many parallel research tracks where specific cooperation can be pursued. Possible collaborative topics include biological-based vaccines and environmental biotech applications for Chesapeake Bay protection. An MBI official says that "without Hunter-Cevera's visit, the top companies and university labs in Scotland would not have had the opportunity to learn so much about possible collaborative research with all ...