From a pipette in Bar Harbor to the frontiers of kidney research
Before becoming a leading kidney researcher, Dr. Nishad Jayasundara '05 got his start through the Maine IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence, a College of the Atlantic partner program that has launched thousands of scientific careers.
Dr. Nishad Jayasundara '05, one of the world’s pioneering scientists focused on the links between chronic kidney disease in farm workers and pollution, stood in the auditorium of Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory (MDIBL) and explained that this space—the biological laboratory on the coast of Bar Harbor—was where it all began.
By Carrie Jones | Bar Harbor Story
“This is the birthplace of my science,” Dr. Jayasundara said during the celebration of 25 years of The Maine IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE), a state-wide collaboration of science labs, colleges, and research, August 14. “I held my first pipette here.”
Since then, he’s gone on to earn his PhD and start to change the world. His research at his position at Duke University is about kidney disease, water pollution, and so much more.
It started here, when he was a student at the College of the Atlantic. Over 215 COA students have been the beneficiaries of INBRE.
What exactly is INBRE?
“This is a terrible acronym,” Dr. Hermann Haller, MDIBL president and professor said, August 14. “It stands for something which is far from ordinary.”
The INBRE network is led by the MDI Bio Lab and it’s a consortium of research and higher education institutions that helps young Mainers, undergraduates, and Maine to fully participate in the biomedical/biotech revolution, with its benefits for human health and high-paying jobs, according to information from the lab.
INBRE, Dr. Haller said, “strengthens Maine’s capacity to conduct cutting edge biomedical research.”
At MDIBL, Dr. Haller and Dr. James Coffman, director of the Maine IDeA Network of Biolmedical Research Excellence both outlined how INBRE helped change MDI Bio Lab from a $1 million, seasonal institution with 11 full-time employees to a $20 million year-round institution that employs more than 100 and is recognized internationally for its work.