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The organization also helped provide incubator space. At the same time, UMass Medical continued to grow its reputation in research and in clinical care, garnering a steady and growing stream of funds from NIH and other sources. Notably, UMass researcher Craig Mello shared the 2006 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine, with Andrew Fire, for the discovery of RNA interference, documented in a paper published in 1998. By the early 2000s, the city could boast of the world's first successful cloning of a human embryo by Advanced Cell Technology (ACT), and there were some 36 biotech firms in Greater Worcester, employing an estimated 2,000 people In recent years, the pace has only accelerated, according to Jon Weaver, president and CEO of MBI. Some of the more recent developments include the Left Field Building, targeted for opening in 2023, the 46-acre Reactory biomanufacturing campus, a $50-million Galaxy Life Sciences project and the $60 million WuXi Biologics project. "The history is that Worcester was really proactive starting in the 1970s; that built our success—we approach every project with a culture of collaboration," says Weaver. – Alan R. Earls "We came up with a 25-year plan but the crucial thing initially was to build a culture of cooperation," says Haddad. With the region facing serious economic problems, disparate groups declared themselves ready to work together. One result was WBDC leading the creation of the Worcester Biotechnology Research Park on 75 acres of land acquired from the state and in turn managed by Massachusetts Biotechnology Research Institute (MBI). at organization, started with a $1 million boost from the Commonwealth. at same year, the administration of Governor Michael Dukakis, espying the accomplishments of UMass Medical and WFEB, declared Worcester as the state's "Center of Excellence" for biotechnology. For the most part, the visionaries have been prescient and the boosters proven right. With encouragement from the Dukakis administration, BASF (subsequently called Abbott Bioresearch Center and now Abbvie), built a $43 million facility in the park. at company created the blockbuster drug, Humira, which is manufactured on Plantation Street in Worcester. MBI for its part raised tens of millions of dollars of public and private funds to finance early-stage and growing biomedical companies. UMass Chan Medical School research funding 1922-2021 W o r c e s t e r 3 0 0 : C i t y o f I n n o v a t o r s 47 *FY2010 thru FY2012 - Includes significant one-time ARRA (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) funding Research Awards (In millions $) 0 $100M $200M $300M $400M $500M $174.5M $287.9M $421M 2007 '08 '09 '10 '11 '12 '13 '14 '15 '16 '17 '18 '19 '20 '21 UMass Medical continued to grow its reputation in research and in clinical care, gathering a steady and growing stream of funds from NIH and other sources.