Faculty and staff at UNC Wilmington CREST Research Park are now expanding into their newest addition, the Marine Biotechnology in North Carolina building, or MARBIONC.  

 

Daniel Baden, director of UNCW’s Center for Marine Science and executive principal of MARBIONC, said the building will focus on biomedical and biotechnology related research. He described the building as a translational sciences facility founded on a public and private partnership. Translational science finds practical uses for research. 

 

“The translational people say, ‘Okay, now that you’ve got a proof of concept,’ they say, ‘Gee, this application really does work.’ You can say, ‘Okay, how can we get that into an industrial or public realm such that it’s going to actually benefit the American people, the people of North Carolina?” Baden said.

 

Translational science has become increasingly important for researchers.

 

“It’s really important now to the National Institutes of Health, to the National Science Foundation, actually to any national agency that does research. They’re all talking translation. It’s partly because Congress is saying, ‘What are we getting for all the money we’re putting into this research?’ So this is an ability to show what it is,” Baden said.

 

UNCW will occupy about half of the MARBIONC research space and the other half will be leased by private organizations. The first tenant, a small start-up company that works with marine-derived skin products, will be announced later this week.

 

The leased lab space will generate income for the university and provide students with real world experience by creating more internship opportunity with private companies, Baden said. While it is not a teaching building, it will allow students to use 21st century laboratory technology. He also said the marine science department is starting to work with the Cameron School of Business.

 

UNCW junior Maddy Hagood, who has done undergraduate research at the Center for Marine Science, said if she enters the UNCW marine biology graduate program, she would want to participate in research at MARBIONC.  

 

“I would definitely apply there because it would be basically what I want to do. It would be an awesome opportunity to present myself and it would be so much good research time,” Hagood said.

 

The building will also relieve crowding in the Center for Marine Science, which was the first building constructed at CREST Park in 2000. The program expanded faster than UNCW predicted, leaving laboratories crammed. MARBIONC is now the fourth building at CREST Research Park.

 

“Oh it’s really nice, there’s so much more room,” Susan Niven, a research technician at MARBIONC, said. “We were all on top of each other in this tiny little space before.”

 

Combining public institution with private enterprise in one building should create an ideal translational science environment. Baden said UNCW already has the scientists and translational scientists it needs, so now that construction is completed, they’re looking for businesses.

 

“It’s a grand experiment. I’m pretty sure it’s gonna work out,” Baden said. “All of our colleagues are just amazed at what the Center for Marine Science and the faculty have done over the past decade. It’s really pretty remarkable.”