MEMBERS ONLY SITE
(if you need a login, please send email to Dan Blumenthal)

 

Projects:

Resources:

- BII Quarterly Newsletter
- CIMIT-Russia Fact Sheet

Staff Bios

Jeffrey A Gelfand, MD

Dan Blumenthal

Timothy Brauns, MBA

Colleen Kigin, DPT, MPA

Pierre Regent Leblanc, PhD

Irene Lerman, MS

Alex Nivorozhkin, PhD

John Parrish, MD

Lilla Rogers, MA

Yong Ming Yu, MD, PhD

Links of Interest:

Bioindustry Initiative

International Science and Technology Center

Nuclear Threat Initiative

Russian Bioweapons Monitor

State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology

U.S. Civilian Research and Development Foundation

U.S. Department of State Bureau of Nonproliferation

U.S. Department of Energy Initiatives for Proliferation Prevention

U.S. Department of Defense Threat Reduction Agency

U.S. Industry Coalition

Director: Jeffrey Gelfand, MD

An Overview of CIMIT Russia

Since August 2003, CIMIT has assisted the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Proliferation Threat Reduction to implement its new nonproliferation program, the Bioindustry Initiative (BII). The BII was launched in 2002 through a Congressional mandate to:

(i) counter the threat of bio-terrorism through targeted transformation of former Soviet biological weapons research and production capacities; and

(ii) expand U.S. government nonproliferation activities by reconfiguring former Soviet biological weapons production facilities for peaceful uses and by engaging Russian scientists.

BII is focused on creating sustainability for these institutes and their scientists through long-term research and commercialization opportunities in domestic and global scientific communities and biotechnology markets. As a partner of BII, CIMIT-Russia has initiated a number of research partnerships and commercialization projects in the Russian Federation that cover a wide array of scientific topics, including:

The CIMIT-Russia team includes a core of PhD and MD scientists with expertise in biodefense, immunology, infectious diseases, chemistry and biochemistry, as well as business development professionals, project managers and administrative staff. The program taps a broad range of scientific and business expertise as part of its wide-ranging engagements.

CIMIT-Russia convenes research partnerships between Russian and Western scientists. It’s role is to identify excellent research and research teams in institutions engaged by BII, find promising Western scientific collaborators, facilitate initial collaboration and assist development of research programs that can be supported by international research funding. The program also facilitates Russian institutions in meeting qualifications to receive grants from international scientific funding agencies such as the National Institutes of Health, the World Health Organization and the Wellcome Trust.

The CIMIT-Russia program also promotes commercialization activities by identifying innovative discoveries in these institutions, and leading the institution and scientific teams through a business development process that can result in spin-off companies, joint ventures, and licensing opportunities.

For further information on the CIMIT-Russia Program, please contact:

Lilla Rogers
Phone: (617) 726-1796
Email: plrogers@partners.org