RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C., Sept. 6, 2006 -- Marjorie Benbow, an executive with extensive experience in biotechnology research, business and technology development, has been hired as director of the Greater Charlotte Office of the North Carolina Biotechnology Center, effective Sept. 5.
"I look forward to collaborating with many partners in the Greater Charlotte region to develop biotechnology here," said Benbow. "The region's research, business and education infrastructure presents great opportunities."
Benbow will work with companies, schools and institutions throughout an 11-county region to strengthen biotechnology research, business, education and workforce training, and to identify new opportunities for commercial biotechnology based on the region's assets. Counties to be served by her office include Anson, Cabarrus, Catawba, Gaston, Iredell, Lincoln, Mecklenburg, Richmond, Rowan, Stanly and Union.
"Marjorie will implement a key premise of the North Carolina Biotechnology Center," said W. Steven Burke, senior vice president of corporate affairs at the Biotechnology Center. "Gaining eventual jobs and economic return from biotechnology in a region requires a foundation of different partners, long-term commitment, and practical strategies."
Benbow will help create and administer an Advisory Committee for Biotechnology--composed of regional leaders--that will guide biotechnology development in the region. She also will serve as the region's direct conduit to the funding programs and other resources of the Biotechnology Center.
The Greater Charlotte Office, to be dedicated Oct.10, is the fifth and final regional office of the Biotechnology Center. The other offices are an Eastern Office in Greenville, a Western Office in Asheville, a Southeastern Office in Wilmington and a Piedmont Triad Office in Winston-Salem. The Greater Charlotte Office will be at the Charlotte Research Institute on the campus of the University of North Carolina-Charlotte.
Prior to joining the Biotechnology Center, Benbow was the science and technology officer at WakeMed Health and Hospitals in Raleigh, where she developed collaborative agreements with other institutions and scouted emerging technologies to improve health care and hospital operations.
Before that she worked in the technology transfer office at UNC-Charlotte, where she managed intellectual property for university technology, licensed technology to companies and advised inventors how to commercialize their technology. Previously she was a public health policy consultant to state and county governments. She spent the first 13 years of her career in scientific research and teaching at various institutions.
A native of Winston-Salem, Benbow has a bachelor's degree in zoology and a master's degree in public health, from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill; and an MBA and law degree from Wake Forest University. She lives in Concord.
The Biotechnology Center is a private, non-profit corporation supported by the General Assembly. Its mission is to provide long-term economic and societal benefits to North Carolina by supporting biotechnology research, business and education statewide.
Editors: A photo of Benbow is available from the Biotechnology Center as a .jpg file and can be downloaded at: http://tinyurl.com/mu6u3.
Contact: Barry Teater, director of corporate communications, or Jim Shamp, news and publications editor, of the North Carolina Biotechnology Center, 919-541-9366. E-mail barry_teater@ncbiotech.org or jim_shamp@ncbiotech.org. Visit the Biotechnology Center's Web site at www.ncbiotech.org.
