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W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 85 Fact Book / Doing Business in Maine I N N OVAT I O N / R & D e center's programs are supported by a recent award of up to $34.5 million from the ARPA-H THRIVE program. JAX-Colby Launched as a pilot in 2021, the JAX- Colby Mentored Research Program pairs Colby undergraduates in bio- medical research training with JAX faculty mentors. Lunder's $1.5 million endowment allows JAX to offer academic-year and summertime research opportunities. Over the past five years, 15 students have participated. e JAX-Colby program is one in a series of training initiatives overseen by JAX Genomic Education, which offers educational programming for a variety of cohorts, including aK-12 teachers bringing genetics and genomics into their classrooms, students and clini- cians who want to apply genomics to patient care. Philanthropy helps fund the programs. 'Humanized' mouse models Earlier in 2026, the lab received a $2 mil- lion grant through Maine Technology Institute's Maine Technology Asset Fund program toward the cost of ren- ovating an existing 3,500-square-foot facility on the Bar Harbor campus, expand capacity and meet grow- ing market demand for advanced research mice. e goal is to create "a state-of- the-art humanized mouse model production facility." e balance of the cost will come from institutional capital improve- ment funds. A humanized mouse refers to a mouse that carries some aspect of human biology, which makes them models for studying human disease. e mice are often engrafted with human tissue, such as immune cells, meaning that the mice have "more human" immune systems. at allows mice to match human biology, allow- ing researchers to better understand human disease and more accurately test potential new treatments. e combination of engineered strains with human-relevant biological systems is expected to help researchers evaluate therapies in models that better reflect human disease. Completion is targeted for December 2027. e project is expected to create eight positions to operate the mouse pro- duction and distribution facility. C O N T I N U E D O N F O L L OW I N G PA G E » Your Big Plans. Our Local Solutions. SERVING MAINE SINCE 1827 sbsavings.bank | 207.284.4591 Owen Baxter of O's Maine with SBSI Loan Officer Jamie Whelan We are at a moment in genomic medicine where, for many rare diseases, the question is no longer whether we can treat them, but whether we will build the systems to do it. — Cat Lutz Jackson Laboratory I M A G E / C O U R T E S Y O F T H E JA C K S O N L A BO R AT O R Y In 2024, Jackson Laboratory partnered with Allentown Inc., an Allentown, N.J., maker of animal housing, to launch a home-cage mouse monitoring system that integrates JAX's cloud-based artificial intelligence and machine learning software.