WORCESTER

Life sciences in Mass. 'is the place to be'

Annual Next-in-Bio event attended by 70 students from nine colleges and universities

Cyrus Moulton
Cyrus.Moulton@telegram.com
Travis McCready, president and CEO of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, speaks in September during a Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce breakfast club meeting. [T&G File Photo/Rick Cinclair]

WORCESTER - There’s a “revolution” again in Massachusetts. But in 2018 that revolution is not in the streets but in labs, operating rooms and boardrooms, and leaders in the life sciences fields say intellectual flexibility is required to participate.

“You have to think about life in a much more systemic way,” said Travis McCready, president and CEO of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, a public-private agency, in a keynote address at the Next-in-Bio event at WPI on Saturday. “This is a moment for deep introspection. If you do want to participate, in a revolution, what can you bring to the table?”

The third annual Next-in-Bio event brought together about 70 students from nine colleges and universities to present class projects and network with and hear from industry leaders in the life sciences.

“We want to show students that not only is life sciences the place to be, but to be in Massachusetts in life sciences is the place to be,” said Jean King, dean of arts and sciences at WPI.

But the students are going to need more than just stellar science grades to be revolutionary.

In both a keynote address by Mr. McCready and a panel discussion with alumni in the life sciences fields - with panelists including a plastic surgeon, a biomedical engineering entrepreneur and a veterinarian-turned-animal-researcher - the image of a lonely, esoteric scientist toiling away in an obscure lab was shattered in favor of a collaborative, flexible thinker at the intersection of industry and cutting-edge science.

Mr. McCready - whose public/private agency invests in life sciences infrastructure, pre-seed and seed companies, and education and workforce development - used a Harry Potter analogy, comparing “wizards” of science with “muggle” nonscientists.

“No longer is life sciences a matter of muggle- and wizard-born,” Mr. McCready said. “The sectors are collapsing in on each other. Sanofi Genzyme is competing with Amazon and Google. They are competing for people who are intellectually flexible.”

Mr. McCready used big data as an example, discussing how data analysis is being used for everything from treating cancer to getting people to quit smoking by discouraging cravings.

“Exclamation point - big data matters!” Mr. McCready said.

And this requires scientists, medical providers, drug manufacturers and investors to communicate and collaborate.

“Communication is the critical factor for me being successful in what I do,” said panelist Dr. Denice O’Connell, director of Bioresources at AbbVie Bioresearch Center, Inc. “You have to find a way to be able to relate to anybody you work with.”

Dr. Raymond Dunn, chief of plastic and reconstructive surgery at University of Massachusetts Medical School, agreed.

“You can’t do anything alone anymore,” he said. “You have to never stop learning. Don’t ever stop learning.”