The Stowers Institute for Medical Research recently received an additional gift of $1.1 billion in securities from Jim and Virginia Stowers, who founded the Kansas City, Mo., research facility in 1998 (S. Bunk, "Big Plans for Kansas City," The Scientist 14[23]:14, Nov. 27, 2000). Their latest contribution raises the total value of the institute's endowment above $1.6 billion. The Stowers family originally intended for this gift to pass to the institute following their deaths, but by giving it now they hope to boost recruitment of scientists. The nonprofit medical research organization began work last November with three researchers under the supervision of president William Neaves and scientific director Richard Krumlauf. Two researchers and several administrators joined the already existing staff in December; four more primary researchers came on board in March, bringing the total number of senior scientists to nine. Recruitment is still under way: The $200 million, 600,000-square-foot campus can house 50-60 research programs, each with a team of five to 10 researchers and lab technicians. By the fall of 2002, the institute hopes to have 16 working laboratories. The sale of 45 percent of American Century Cos.--a national investment management firm founded by Jim Stowers in 1958--to J.P. Morgan in early 1998 added to the initial funds of $50 million, given to the institute in 1994.
A Web of Integrity
To unveil affiliations between scientists and businesses, the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) recently launched a Web site entitled Integrity in Science (www.integrityinscience.org). Compiled from résumés, news articles, other Web sites, conference programs, and other public references, the site provides information about relationships between scientists and corporations, including information about funding the scientists may have received (see also, K. Kreeger, P. Park, "When Corporations Pay for Research," The Scientist, 15 [11]: May 28, 2001). Concerned that scientists do not always disclose the corporate sponsors of their work, CSPI hopes this database will be "a starting point, a useful resource that will encourage journalists to routinely ask about possible conflicts of interest," according to executive director Michael Jacobson. "Right now we have about 1,100 names in the database, but we hope to increase that. We would like to expand our coverage, especially in areas concerning environmental issues" related to human health, such as the use of toxic chemicals. The Integrity in Science database is the most recent in a series of health-related resources provided by CSPI, a nonprofit advocacy group started in Washington, D.C. in 1971.
