I enjoy reading most anything she writes, because what she says is simple, yet profound (so does that mean what she says is simply profound? lol).

Seriously, she has a skill for weeding out the fluff in the talking about the research industry - and it IS an industry - and telling it like it is. For example, this CEO of Fox Foundation says: "we must work as intellectual and financial partners with industry, from tiny biotechs to Big Pharma." I couldn't find any stats on this, but I would speculate that "tiny biotechs" have initiated more successful discoveries (i.e., those that make it from lab to shelf ) than have "Big Pharma" companies. Big Pharma just uses their buying power – which sounds a little cold, don’t you think?

My take is what Katie suggests as one viable solution to the black hole in academic research, is for there to be a harmonious marriage between those actually doing the research and industry, or those sponsoring the research. She reports on the Fox Foundation status: "With 21 active industry partnerships at the time of this writing, we're funding the pursuit of multiple disease-modifying PD treatments that likely otherwise would have been shelved for lack of capital.
And how does one go about that (the researchers/industry marriage)? Well, she was certainly at the right place at the right time – Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO). Paula and I attended last year (along with Perry Cohen) . That’s the place to network with industry and researchers – over 20,000 this year from 48 states and over 70 countries!.

And although I know that the Fox Foundation does so more than we realize, I wish we had heard a little more about the role of the patient. We are walking billboards! Maybe I’ll pay a visit to Huffingtoon and post something about a reciprocal relationship between researchers – industry – AND the patient.

Remember: ." Money talks, but it’s the results that find cures and better treatments.

Peggy