Life sciences research, business know-how and university resources continue to align in innovative ways at the North Carolina Research Campus, one of the world's most complete biotechnology projects.
David H. Murdock, owner and chairman of Dole Food Company, Inc. and Castle & Cooke, Inc., and Red Hat, the leading provider of open source solutions, today announced a partnership with the University of North Carolina system and the NC Research Campus to advance studies in fields from crop production to the prevention of cancer.
The announcement came before an audience of more than 200 dignitaries on hand to celebrate the ˜topping off' celebration for the University of North Carolina's Nutrition Research Institute and the groundbreaking for North Carolina State University's Institute of Advanced Fruit and Vegetable Science and the Dole Nutrition Institute.
"Science seeks solutions to the challenges that confront humanity. The research campus seeks solutions to the challenges that confront science, said Mr. Murdock. "Collaborations between the great minds at UNC made possible by the great minds at Red Hat will benefit not only the campus, not only North Carolina, not only the United States, but the world.
Joanne Rohde, Red Hat's executive vice president of operations, explained, "Our goal is to make collaboration and open source come to life in the field of clinical research. With our partners, we will identify specific projects where sharing of information will lead to better, more accurate research. In turn, this research will enable real-life solutions to be developed across both the public and private sector at the NC Research Campus.
UNC system President Erskine Bowles praised all of the parties involved in making the research campus a cutting-edge facility for science. "Under the leadership of Dr. Steven Zeisel, the director of the Nutrition Research Institute and Dr. Steve Leath, the director of the Institute for Advanced Fruit and Vegetable Science, the UNC system will continue to be a model for the world in our approaches to implementing cutting-edge research and corporate collaborations, President Bowles said. "Our new partnership with Red Hat will expand upon our ways to provide creative solutions to communicate between the disciplines.
The Nutrition Research Institute (NRI) will be part of the School of Public Health at UNC-Chapel Hill. NRI will also house programs from NC A&T State University, North Carolina Central University and UNC-Greensboro. The NRI will focus on using genomic and metabolomic biotechnology to develop innovative approaches to understanding why there are individual differences in metabolism and nutrient requirements. The NRI is expected to generate breakthroughs in how nutrition is used to enhance human health--using individual metabolic variations to develop nutrition solutions that target individual susceptibilities and differences.
North Carolina State University's Institute for Advanced Fruit and Vegetable Science will be a joint effort involving N.C. State University and Dole Food Company, Inc. This institute will extend the university's outstanding programs bridging basic life science research to real world agricultural applications by establishing the world's first institute dedicated to the use of genomics, bioinformatics, and systems biology to enhance plant breeding.
Research will be focused on ways to enhance the nutritional content of fruits and vegetables, increase agricultural production, create a sustainable food supply, develop alternative crops for North Carolina's farmers, and use technologies leading to new plant varieties.
About the North Carolina Research Campus
The North Carolina Research Campus is a fast-emerging public-private, 350-acre life sciences hub near Charlotte, N.C., involving David H. Murdock, Duke University, the University of North Carolina system, the N.C. Community College System and other institutions of higher education and corporations. For more information, please visit www.ncresearchcampus.net.
