DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Along with Florida’s three other Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Bethune-Cookman College has formed a consortium with Scripps Research Institute to expand biomedical research programs at their respective institutions.

One of the world's largest nonprofit biomedical research organizations, Scripps is planning to build a research facility in Palm Beach County scheduled to open in 2006. The campus will focus on basic biomedical science, drug discovery and technology development.

B-CC President Dr. Oswald P. Bronson, Sr., Dean of Nursing Dr. Alma Y. Dixon, and Chemistry Department Head Dr. Thomas O. Richardson were among a group of 15 educators representing B-CC, Florida A&M University, Edward Waters College and Florida Memorial College, who visited Scripps' headquarters in La Jolla, Calif.

The consortium may offer opportunities such as research collaboration, internships for students, faculty training, development of business incubators, and visitations to the college campuses by Scripps researchers.

“I found the experience to be very helpful and very inspiring,’’ Bronson said.  "We are very encouraged by the way the Scripps people offered to work with us.  We see it as an opportunity to enhance what we're doing at Bethune-Cookman.”

“A partnership like this will enhance our ability to recruit faculty interested in doing biomedical research,’’ said Dixon.

Bethune-Cookman has done medical research under a National Institutes of Health grant since 1974. The college currently has four research projects under way dealing in part with muscle proteins and enzymes. The projects are funded with a four-year, $3.8 million National Institutes of Health grant, according to Richardson.

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Bethune-Cookman is a comprehensive college, which offers degrees in liberal arts as well as professional fields, such as business, education and nursing. A United Methodist Church-affiliated school, the College has a diverse and international student population of more than 2,700 and a solid reputation for academic excellence and community service. As evidence of its outstanding program, the College has been listed in the Templeton Honor Roll of Character Building Colleges and Universities, and it was ranked by Black Enterprise magazine as one of the “Top 50” schools in the nation for black students.  B-CC is one of 10 charter member colleges of Project Pericles, a program to create civic leadership and involvement on its member campuses.  The College will celebrate its 100^th year of founding on October 4, 2004.

For more information, contact our website www.bethune.cookman.edu. 

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