Aug. 16, 2011 -- BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Back in summer 2006, a new research center in Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business was looking for ways to serve an emergent life sciences industry in Indiana.
With support from industry and economic development partners, the Indiana Life Science Collaboration Series was created to assist the state’s healthcare and life science industries with learning best practices and new ways to collaborate. The first event in the series that September focused on Indiana’s life sciences clusters.
Now moving into its sixth year, the successful conference series will open on Sept. 23 in Indianapolis with an extensive program on the “consumerization” of medical product marketing. Several marketing professionals and researchers will be among the participants at the conference, which will take place 8 a.m. to 3:15 p.m., at the Indiana University School of Medicine’s Walther Hall, 980 W. Walnut St.
The conference series is presented by the Indiana University Kelley School of Business and its Center for the Business of Life Sciences, the Indiana Economic Development Corp., and BioCrossroads.
George Telthorst, director of the Center for the Business of Life Sciences (CBLS), noted that the series always has been designed to meet current needs of medical products and pharmaceutical companies in Indiana and across the Midwest.
“The topics for our events are derived with input from our advisory board. They reflect the trends and needs that the industry is seeing and the issues they believe are worth discussing,” Telthorst said. “We also provide a connection point where people in the industry can get together and share information, rather than always looking inward.”
The Sept. 23 event is the first in a series of four conferences. The cost is $125 for one event or $400 for the entire series. Registration and additional information is available online at http://kelley.iu.edu/CBLS/conferences/page33381.html or by contacting Kelli Conder at the Kelley School at 812-856-0915 or kconder@indiana.edu.
Other events in the series will include:
- “Powering Life Sciences Entrepreneurship in Indiana,” on Nov. 18 at the Orthopaedic Capital Center at Grace College at Winona Lake near Warsaw, Ind. Speakers and panelists representing funders, business advisers and entrepreneurs will discuss the progress of Indiana’s life sciences industry and the obstacles that still exist to greater activity. Representatives from the Indiana Economic Development Corp. will explain the new Elevate Indiana initiative.
- “The Confluence of Diagnostics and Therapeutics,” on Feb. 24 at the Indianapolis offices of Barnes & Thornburg LLP. The program will examine how understanding of human genome mapping and genetic markers may provide opportunities to tailor treatment for specific patients and groups of patients, whether through diagnosis or through eliminating the condition.
- “Integrated Healthcare/ Accountable Care Organizations and Their Impact,” May 11 at Cook Medical world headquarters in Bloomington. Presenters will discuss ACOs -- the concept of a group of healthcare providers working together to oversee care for an assigned population. ACOs were included in the federal healthcare reform legislation as one of the vehicles to make Medicare more cost-effective. The conference will focus on how diagnostics-oriented companies and pharmaceutical companies share the value and profits associated with this emerging trend and how they relate to each other as partners and competitors.
More information about the Center for the Business of Life Sciences is available online at http://kelley.iu.edu/cbls/.
