07/21/05 Life Science Discovery Fund Authority

07/21/05 Life Science Discovery Fund Authority

Washington Ag July 21, 2005 Governor Christine Gregoire recently appointed former University of Washington President Lee Huntsman to be the executive director of the Life Sciences Discovery Fund Authority. That's the governor's initiative the legislature approved that will use forthcoming tobacco settlement funds to help finance biomedical and other scientific advances including some in agriculture. Huntsman has a background in medical bioengineering. Previously the governor appointed Dr. Lura Powell of Richland to chair the board which will oversea the fund. She is president and chief executive officer of Advanced Imaging Technologies. The governor will also appoint seven board members. Four have been appointed by the Legislature: Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown; Senate Minority Leader Bill Finkbeiner; chair of the House Technology Committee, Representative Jeff Morris; and the ranking minority member on the House Judiciary Committee, Representative Skip Priest. While the 350-million dollars in tobacco money and the matching funds that will be required are expected to focus primarily on human health research, retiring WSU ag dean James Cook says ag researchers can play a role too. Cook: "But agriculture is just as important when it comes to health benefits for peopel People are looking more and more at the food they eat to keep them healthy. Or even to cure their diseases." I'm Bob Hoff.
Previous Report07/20/05 Farm Bureau labor seminars
Next Report07/22/05 Adding value to wool