Biosciences institute will tackle critical needs

The biosciences research cluster at NMSU soon will become the Institute of Applied Biosciences.

Vimal Chaitanya, vice president for research, graduate studies and international programs, said the new institute will focus on “some of the most important research challenges of our time,” from developing biofuels to understanding and combating emerging diseases.

“We have an excellent cluster of faculty members engaged in significant research in these areas already and we will be hiring two new faculty members for the institute,” Chaitanya said. “We are looking for the most outstanding researchers we can attract in the areas of synthetic biology and emerging pathogens. Those are the two areas that we have identified as key focus areas.”

The Institute of Applied Biosciences will build upon the strengths of the biosciences research cluster, a cross-disciplinary group of faculty members with research interests in areas such as infectious diseases, cancer, genetics, drug development, bioinformatics and public health.

Professors Peter Lammers of the chemistry and biochemistry department and Vincent Gutschick of the biology department, co-leaders of the cluster, said current research in the biosciences at NMSU is supported by more than $11 million in grants from agencies such as the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation.

NMSU President Michael Martin said the biosciences serve as a research platform for addressing problems related to agriculture, human health, energy and the environment.