November 2021 Letter from the CEO
Dear BioMADE Stakeholders,
I want to extend a sincere thank you to everyone who participated in our first Member Business Meeting earlier this month. Over 250 representatives from 80 member organizations and the U.S. government attended to network with each other, start building project teams, learn about the Transition Technical Roadmap, and hear details about our current Project Call. The engagement that happens at meetings like this is a great reason to be involved as a BioMADE member. We hope to get together in person in 2022 – become a member now to ensure you can attend.
I’m also pleased to provide an update on BioMADE’s first project call, which we opened in conjunction with our launch in April. We received 53 white papers and are excited to be working toward launching 12 Technology & Innovation projects with 21 member organizations, and 7 Education & Workforce Development projects with 19 member organizations. More details will be announced about these projects soon! If you missed this project call, don’t worry: we currently have a second call open now for Technology & Innovation and Education & Workforce Development projects. White papers for this project call are due Dec. 21, 2021.
Lastly, I want to acknowledge the recent passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which directs billions of dollars for roads, bridges, the electric grid, safe water, and more. Bioindustrial manufacturing is poised to play a major role in many aspects of this bill, by providing key raw materials through domestic sourcing. Bioindustrial manufacturing can create new products and capabilities, resulting in a more robust and resilient domestic supply chain. Together with our members, BioMADE will establish technical leadership, expand domestic capacity, and provide key capabilities to ensure biotechnology modernization within the U.S. and lead to the commercialization of biomanufactured products. Your organization can be part of this momentum by becoming a BioMADE member or submitting a proposal to develop a BioMADE Institute Project today.
Doug