PROVIDENCE – The Rhode Island Science and Technology Advisory Council announced some changes to its leadership during its September meeting on Monday.
Current STAC member Peter Alfonso, vice president for research and economic development at the University of Rhode Island, will assume the role of co-chair from David Farmer, dean of the URI Graduate School of Oceanography, who served as co-chair for the past two years. Clyde Briant, vice president for research at Brown University, will serve along with Alfonso as co-chair.
Anthony Pankau, vice president and general manager for Amgen’s Rhode Island facility, will join the council, taking over for Kimball Hall, who was promoted at Amgen and moved to California.
Pankau is a board member of the Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council, the URI Research Foundation, and the Rhode Island Commodores.
“STAC puts a high priority on identifying ways for Rhode Island to support entrepreneurship and build world-class R&D capacity across the state that fosters new company creation and high-wage job growth. We are fortunate and grateful to have the talent and expertise of Peter and Tony, who are tremendous assets to STAC as it continues its vital leadership role in strengthening Rhode Island’s knowledge economy,” said R.I. Economic Development Corp. Executive Director Keith W. Stokes.
At the meeting, STAC also discussed federal research and development funding trends; it also received an update from a 2010 STAC grant recipient.
Joanne Padrón Carney, director for government relations for the American Association for the Advancement of Science, attended the meeting to discuss current and future federal funding of science and technology initiatives. (STAC serves as the governing committee for the state’s $20 million National Science Foundation EPSCoR grant.)
The fiscal 2012 budget, Carney said, has $149 billion dedicated to R&D investment, a 3.3 percent increase from fiscal 2011, with the lion’s share – $66 billion – going toward jump-starting innovation and scientific discovery.
At the same time, Carney highlighted the need to consider how future federal budgetary caps on discretionary funding may affect federal R&D programs at the state level.
The winner of the 2011 R.I. Business Plan Competition entrepreneur track and its $25,000 prize, as well as a 2010 Collaborative Research Grant recipient, also attended the meeting. Jason Harry, founder of Lucidux Corp., updated STAC members on his company, which is developing imaging technologies for cancer detection.
The award money, he said, would further accelerate the commercialization of the 3D technology it is developing to enhance camera visualization models surgeons use to detect and treat cancers. Lucidex is collaborating with Gabriel Tuabin of Brown, and George E. Haleblian and Gyan Pareek of Rhode Island Hospital.
