PM To Chair Inaugural Biotech Roundtable In San Francisco

PUTRAJAYA, Sept 18 (Bernama) -- Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi will chair the inaugural Biotech Roundtable Meeting 2005 in San Francisco, the United States, Monday, the Prime Minister's Office announced here Sunday.
It said in a statement that the Biotech Roundtable comprised 13 well-known international biotechnology scientists and industry players from the United States.
The highly-regarded scientists, who have been invited to become members of the roundtable, would contribute their views on regional and global trends as well as the current challenges that Malaysia faces in the development of biotechnology, the statement said.
"They will also offer perspectives on how Malaysia's plans can take into account these emerging trends and realities and identify opportunities," it said.
The Biotechnology Roundtable members include two professors from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Professor Anthony J. Sinskey and Professor Cho Kyun Rha; IBM Healthcare & Life Sciences General Manager Dr Caroline Kovac; Metamorphix President and Chief Executive Officer Dr Edwin Quattlebaum; Curtin University Chancellor Dr Eric Tan and Sloan School of Management Executive-in-Residence Dr Frank L. Douglas.
Others include Lehman Brothers Vice Chairman Fred Frank; J Craig Venter Institute Founder Dr J Craig Venter; and Fred Hutchison Cancer Research Institute President Dr Leland Hartwell.
The other four members are University of California at San Francisco Executive Director Dr Regis Kelly; Danforth Plant Science Centre President Dr Roger Beachy; Burrill & Company Managing Director Dr Roger Wyse and Partner of Ernst & Young, Scott Morrison.