The Hawaii Bioscience Conference will take place January 13-14, 2005 to celebrate the unveiling of the University of Hawaii John A. Burns School of Medicine’s new campus in Kakaako. Nobel Prize winners J. Michael Bishop, MD, Chancellor of the University of California, San Francisco, and David Baltimore, PhD, president of California Institute of Technology, will lead concurrent sessions and panel discussions about the latest discoveries in science and medicine along with 15 of the most distinguished researchers in the world. Topics include infectious disease, systems biology, genomics, and bioinformatics. The two-day meeting at the Hawaii Convention Center will culminate with a gala and tour of the new facility.

Among the distinguished presenters are Julie Gerberding, MD, MPH, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Leroy Hood, MD, PhD, president of the Institute of Systems Biology in Seattle; Irving L. Weissman, MD, director, Institute for Cancer/Stem Cell Biology and Medicine at Stanford. Eminent researchers from the University of Hawaii, including Ken Ward, MD, internationally recognized in the field of medical genetics, and Ryuzo Yanagimachi, PhD, of cloned mice fame, will present their latest research findings.

The conference is another important step in establishing Hawaii as a leader in the Life Sciences field, a priority laid out by the state’s Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism and one of the missions of the medical school.

According to Ed Cadman, dean of the John A. Burns School of Medicine, “It’s an ongoing effort to link academic medicine to private business. This conference will showcase Hawaii’s world-class talent in the Life Sciences and show how our new medical school has been a catalyst in the development of the state’s biotech industry. Attendees will be able to see Hawaii’s business potential and interact with scientists whose research led to the advent of the biotech industry.”

In addition to condominiums, shops and restaurants already underway, Maryland-based Townsend Capital, LLC is planning a 200,000 square foot research facility in Kakaako. The facility has already attracted leasing interest for its incubator space which will supplement the medical school’s research building, slated for completion in July 2005. (Business Wire)