Biotech/health symposium highlights multidisciplinary research

George Mason University faculty and student researchers will get a closer look at how the university’s multidisciplinary research initiative is showing results and how they can find areas for new collaborations at the 2017 Biotech and Health Sciences Research Symposium Thursday and Friday on the Fairfax Campus.

Launched two years ago by Provost S. David Wu, the university’s multidisciplinary research initiative is yielding outcomes in such diverse areas as helping people recover faster from strokes, identifying disease outbreaks, and helping emergency responders and emergency room trauma teams work together more effectively.

The Provost’s Office invested $1 million in total seed funding for 31 projects from two multidisciplinary symposiums—health/biotech in 2015 and security/resilience in 2016. Bringing researchers together across disciplines from engineering to policy to health so they can find new answers in the intersections of those fields continues to be a priority for the university.

“This year’s Biotech and Health Sciences Research Symposium will highlight how Mason researchers are collaborating with Inova and other local clinical partners,” said Aurali Dade, associate vice president for Research Development, Integrity and Assurance. “We’ll also discuss how we’re building upon the foundation of the 2015 health/biotech symposium and how Mason’s Institute for Biomedical Innovation will help make a difference to the health of our neighbors and communities.”

Register here for the symposium. Representatives from Inova Health System, Virginia Biotechnology Association, Medstar National Rehabilitation Network, Mason and others will be on hand to discuss opportunities for collaboration from 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday at the Krasnow Institute. Mason researchers will present their work Friday at Dewberry Hall. View the agenda here.