Mainebiz

W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 17 J U N E 3 0 , 2 0 2 5 F O C U S H I G H E R E D U C AT I O N / P RO F E S S I O N A L D E V E L O P M E N T Last summer, he enrolled in a 10-week program at the lab, allow- ing him to continue the work as a full-time job, deepening his skills and resume and establishing contacts. Both courses were funded by a program called Maine INBRE, short for Maine IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence. (IDeA is an acronym for Institutional Development Award.) Working together Led by the Bar Harbor bio lab, Maine INBRE is a consortium of 17 education and research institutions that collaborate to strengthen Maine's competitiveness in biomedical and biotech research, feed stu- dents to biomedical and biotech careers and improve research infrastructure. Funded by the National Institutes of Health, the IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence program began at the national level in 2001, ini- tially providing planning grants and later establishing biomedical research networks in 23 mostly rural states to make them competitive in the larger research world. In Maine, the network began as the Biomedical Research Infrastructure Network and became INBRE in 2004. "For a state like Maine with a small population and a vast geography, it's our willingness to work together that makes us competitive in the larger research world and that helps us to punch above our weight," Hermann Haller, the lab's C O N T I N U E D O N F O L L OW I N G PA G E » JOBS THE WORLD NEEDS. CAREERS PEOPLE LOVE. EXPERTISE THE MARKET DEMANDS. THEY ALL COME TOGETHER AT HUSSON. THEY ALL 1 COLLEGE CIRCLE | BANGOR, MAINE 207.941.7000 | husson.edu View our Online ShoreMaster Catalog at: HAMMONDLUMBER.COM/SHOREMASTER LIMITLESS CUSTOMIZATION OPTIONS FREE DELIVERY WITHIN STOREWIDE DELIVERY AREA 22 LOCATIONS ACROSS MAINE & NEW HAMPSHIRE DISCOVER THE SHOREMASTER DIFFERENCE P H O T O / C O U R T E S Y M D I B I O L A B Hermann Haller, MDI Bio Lab's president, says Maine IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence program expands Maine's biomedical research capacity. But proposed federal funding cuts could endanger the program. Funding uncertainty C ongress is considering a proposal to cut the National Institutes of Health budget by 40%, creating uncertainty about INBRE funding. MDI Bio Lab was able to raise some funding from donors and shift some resources to ensure that Maine undergraduates who won paid 10-week fellow- ships this summer would still get that experience. However that's not a sustainable model for securing Maine INBRE's future, the lab says. "At the moment, there's a lot of uncertainty," says Hermann Haller, the lab's president. "It will have major implications and it will endanger programs like INBRE." For a state like Maine with a small population and a vast geography, it's our willingness to work together that makes us competitive in the larger research world and that helps us to punch above our weight. — Hermann Haller MDI Bio Lab

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