Research Universities Need To Do More PR, Better

September 30, 2006

Research Universities Need To Do More PR, Better

Big Pharma is taking a brutal hit in the media. But that leaves the media territory wide open for research universities to show-case how their passionate but capitalistically detached scientists are working hard for us in their labs.

On the 2nd lap of my airplane journey back from calling on a prospect in West Palm Beach, Florida, I could have slept. But next to me sat a fascinating academic whose team at the University of Connecticut was dedicating their lives and perhaps taking a gamble on their careers for the better health of all of us. She and her small lab are looking into what kind of drug could be administered within 7 days of a stroke that would re-set the neural pathways. The "all" that innovation, when available, could help includes me, an aging baby boomer.

In this era of reductions in funding for some university research, this is the sort of stuff that could get the attention of those who award grants and those who influence those who award grants. But attention has to be gotten the right way.

Forget that weighty description of the research on the university's website. Why not provide a stipend (small) to a member of each of the many research teams throughout the university to blog about the progress and disappointments of the group. No, we don't want the blogger to give away secrets. What we want is to be part of the intellectual adventure taking place in labs.

Is there an audience for this? You bet. A huge one. Why else would we be consuming everything written about and by James Watson and Francis Crick?

September 30, 2006 in Media | Permalink