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July 18, 2011

Genetics center to scrap work, cut 20

By The Mainebiz News Staff

Citing difficulty in finding funding, the Maine Institute for Human Genetics and Health in Bangor will end its major biomedical research program in September and lay off 20 people.

The center, under the Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems umbrella, will halt its study of the link between radon, arsenic and other toxic materials and cancer and other diseases, according to the Bangor Daily News. Executive Director Erik Steele told the paper the economic recession and increased competition for both government and private funds has made it hard to attract financing for the research center, which Steele said is not large enough to compete effectively. The center would need $5 million a year for five years to remain viable, a private consultant told the lab.

Unveiled in 2005, the center was heralded as the cornerstone of a biomedical research triangle in Bangor and was funded by taxpayer-approved bonds and a $7 million grant from the Department of Defense. However, it never moved from its temporary headquarters to the EMHS CancerCare of Maine building when it was built in 2009, as was intended. EMHS will retain the lab and its equipment, and other research projects, including work for the University of Maine, Husson University and The Jackson Laboratory, will continue.

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