New Scripps Florida Seminars Encourage Collaboration

Scripps Florida, a division of The Scripps Research Institute, will host a series of high-level biomedical seminars—The Scripps Florida Collaborative Seminars—each featuring a prominent Florida-based speaker from the academic, biotechnology, or pharmaceutical communities.

“These seminars will serve as one of the major foundations for creating knowledge- and technology-sharing opportunities, team building, and collaborations among biomedical researchers at Scripps Florida and other Florida institutions and companies,” said Scripps Research President Richard A. Lerner.

The seminars, to begin in March, will focus on topics within the fields of biomedical science, advanced biomedical technologies, and drug discovery. Open to interested professionals within the Florida scientific community, the sessions will be held on the Florida Atlantic University Jupiter campus, where Scripps Florida is currently operating. Details of the first seminar will be announced shortly.

 “Collaborations among researchers are the lifeblood of contemporary biomedical science,” said Lerner. “Science today is so complex, detailed, interdisciplinary, and expensive that rarely can one researcher work effectively alone.”

Scripps Research scientists are involved in collaborations with researchers at other institutions worldwide, working as team leaders and members. These collaborations are usually initiated by the scientists themselves, who look to their network of colleagues when assembling a team for a particular research project.

With the recent development of its temporary campus in Palm Beach County, Florida, Scripps Research has also initiated collaborative arrangements on the institutional level. In one arena, Scripps Research and the University of Florida share magnetic resonance imaging technology. In another, Scripps Research joins forces with Florida State University on mass spectrometry instrumentation.

The Scripps Florida Collaborative Seminars will encourage further interaction among Florida scientists, providing opportunities for information-sharing and collaboration.

 “As the Scripps Florida research staff gradually grows, its collaborations with Florida scientists will grow,” Lerner said. “The Scripps Florida Collaborative Seminars are one step in that process.”

Send comments to: mikaono[at]scripps.edu

“Collaborations among researchers are the lifeblood of contemporary biomedical science.”

—Richard A. Lerner