The economy
Rep. David Obey, chair of the House Appropriations Committee, peers through a microscope in Brown’s Laboratories for Molecular Medicine during a visit to study Rhode Island’s economic needs. Looking on, at left, is Rep. Patrick Kennedy, who arranged Obey’s tour. Credit: Frank Mullin/Brown University

U.S. House Appropriations chair tours Brown labs

A tour of Providence’s proposed “Knowledge District” helped an influential congressman and a contingent of Rhode Island officials envision a more prosperous future.
By TAB Staff  |  November 13, 2009  |  Email to a friend

Brown’s Laboratories for Molecular Medicine at 70 Ship Street were on the itinerary Friday, November 13, for Rep. David Obey (D-WI), chairman of the the U.S. House Appropriations Committee, and several Rhode Island elected officials.

Obey came to Rhode Island at the invitation of Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-RI) to see the state’s economic needs firsthand. He toured Providence’s Jewelry District, an area with an increasing Brown research and development presence that has the potential to boost the state's economy. The delegation visits a Brown laboratory in the Jewelry District.: The delegation visits a Brown laboratory in the Jewelry District.

At the laboratory building, Brown Vice President for Research Clyde Briant greeted the officials and took Obey on a tour of the crystallography lab of Assistant Professor of Molecular Biology Rebecca Page and the nuclear magnetic resonance lab of Assistant Professor of Medical Science Wolfgang Peti. Both labs illustrated the potential for basic life-sciences research to be translated into drugs aimed at treating such diseases as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and drug addiction. Such applications could spur product development and business growth in Rhode Island.

Following the tour, Obey and other leaders attended a luncheon where Briant spoke about the importance of Brown’s research collaborations to the state and the necessity of obtaining federal funding for such efforts.