ECU's Dr. Dieter Bruno performs a prostatectomy using a da Vinci robot.
Eastern Office Staff
John Chaffee, director
Jennifer Angevine, senior administrative assistant
Address
2200 S. Charles Blvd.
Suite 1400
Greenville, NC 27858
Directions
Phone
252-328-9981
The strength of the Eastern Region can be found in research associated with:
- Biomedical devices
- Cardiovascular disease
- Biopharmaceutical processing and manufacturing
Medical Devices
East Carolina University has long been a worldwide leader in minimally invasive robotic heart surgery as University physicians led the da Vinci surgical system robot clinical trials.
The procedure, which allows surgeons to operate through tiny ports, have led to hundreds of commonly perform robotically assisted mitral-valve repairs. Greenville now serves as the global training site for doctors learning to use the system.
In 2008, the University, with support from its teaching hospital partner, University Health Systems’ Pitt County Memorial Hospital, will expand its heart treatment and research work with the opening of the $210 million East Carolina Heart Institute.
The facility and its programs should generate more than 500 jobs and ultimately add $34 million yearly to the economy.
Read about East Carolina University's obesity work.
Biopharmaceutical Production
The Eastern Region’s work in bioscience isn’t focused solely on medicine and medical devices. The region is home to several large biopharmaceutical production facilities, including the largest contract manufacturing facility in North America operated by DSM Pharmaceuticals, a multibillion dollar Dutch-based technology company.
Several other analytical laboratories and biopharmaceutical consulting groups are based in the region. Plant bio-agriculture and processing are also key contributors to the biotechnology community.
Biofuels
In the area of biofuels, Agri-Ethanol Products plans to build an estimated $150 million ethanol plant in Beaufort County capable of producing 114 million gallons of ethanol per year from biomass.
Company officials have said the plant could consume more than 20 million bushels of grain per year and can use either corn or grain sorghum interchangeably. Current research projects within the region are also investigating the feasibility of using other forms of biomass (wood byproducts and canola) to support ethanol production.
The region is also rich in marine and aquacultural resources with active marine biology research activities at three university research stations in Carteret County.
Collaborations
“The new Pharmacy School at Elizabeth City State University also poses opportunity for future research activity in collaboration with scientists at East Carolina University into such fields as pharmacokinetics,” said John Chaffee, director of the North Carolina Biotechnology Center’s Eastern Office.
“Eastern North Carolina affords so many opportunities for biotechnology research and applications it will be difficult to choose which ones hold the most promise for economic impact.”