Biotech Graduate Association meeting, April 9

The Tennessee Biotechnology Association Graduate Association is have a social hour April 9 at 5 p.m. at the Flying Saucer hangout. The TBA GA form is here. Our earlier story on Mark Harris (left) and the Graduate Alliance is here. The TBA site is here.

TNBIO stakeholders unite

Grad-school scientists, future lawyers, engineers and MBA-wielding execs statewide are being invited into a relaunching Tennessee Biotechnology Association Graduate Alliance. Industry executives will convene with TBA-GA members, Dec. 7. The story's here.

TN Biotech leadership at issue

Tennessee Biotechnology Association says it wants to live up to its name, but Tennessee Technology Development Corporation doubts it can. The story's here.

TBA leadership condundrum

The Tennessee Biotechnology Association Board of Directors is regrouping and will confer tomorrow on how to proceed with recruiting a new chair, setting strategy and priorities and more. Here's our story. That's TBA President Joe Rolwing, at left.

TN Bio exec resigns, Venture-Tech Calendar updated

She had quietly served as chairperson since earlier this summer, now Leslie Wisner-Lynch has bid adieu to Tennessee Biotechnology Association... Also, VNC released its updated Venture-Tech Calendar. Both items are here.

Execs: TN biotech has earned 'right to exist' in niches

Memphis Daily News reports that Memphis BioWorks Foundation chief Steve Bares and Leslie Wisner-Lynch (at left) make the case that, while Tennessee is behind the curve in some bio sectors, we have strengths in others, such as med devices and biologics. The need to strengthen further Tennessee's ecosystem and infrastructure comes into play. Middle Tennessee-based Wisner-Lynch is the co-founder of BioTN LLC (a K-12 science-math initiative), a leader of the Tennessee Biotechnology Association, a member of the board of Tennessee Technology Development Corporation, and co-founder and formerly an executive with Biomimetic Therapeutics. The MDN's story is here.

Thus, the Bio-daisychain begins

Nodality, cytometry, sanguinity... no, wait. Bio speaks a whole new language we'd better start practicing, now that Kleiner Perkins-backed Nodality has scooped up a squad of scientists living here and planted its flag. The story's here.

TBA Business Plan Competition

Our story on Tennessee Biotechnology Association's 2009 Business Plan Competition is right here. The challenge now is to get graduate and postdoc students in sciences, law, business and other fields to enter.

TN BIO's Rolwing

Our story yesterday on 'Bionic Woman' Leslie Wisner-Lynch's role in advancing biotechnology in Middle Tennessee -- with observers' comments on the industry's halting progress -- drew a crowd. Not mentioned in that article is the fact that Tennessee Biotechnology Association is getting by with basically 75 percent of an executive director: TBA Chairman and President Bob Acuff told VNC he hopes the organization will soon be able to afford 100 percent of Executive Director Joe Rolwing's time. That's Joe at left in the adjoining photo, talking with a student during a recent TNBIO Student Chapter event (there's another scheduled Sept. 22). TBA contracts for the indefatigable Rolwing's services from Cumberland Emerging Technologies, the incubator that's controlled by Cumberland Pharmaceuticals, Vanderbilt University and Tennessee Technology Development Corporation. Rolwing was only half-time a year or so ago. The balance of his time is apparently still spent as director of the CET Life Sciences Center.