BERLIN and BETHESDA, Md., Jan. 31 /PRNewswire/ -- The Industrial
Investment Council and the Freie Universitat Berlin today announced the
establishment of a new National Foundation for Cancer Research Center in
Berlin.  The Center, made possible by collaboration between scientists at the
Freie Universitat Berlin and The RNA Network, is funded by the National
Foundation for Cancer Research (NFCR), and will focus on cancer related RNA
derived research directed by Professor Dr. Volker A. Erdmann, an international
leader and pioneer in the field of RNA research and Chairman of RiNA, e.v.
    The NFCR Center for RNA Cancer Research at Berlin's Freie Universitat is
one of an international network of NFCR Centers designed to foster synergistic
interactions between scientists at major research universities around the
world.  "Unlike traditional grants which too often restrict and confine
researchers," says Franklin C. Salisbury, Jr., president of the National
Foundation for Cancer Research, "NFCR support for this Center for RNA Cancer
Research offers a flexible funding mechanism that will enable Professor
Erdmann and his team to do the bold and blue-sky research that might well lead
to breakthroughs and new treatments for cancer."
    The Berlin center will be linked to the other NFCR Centers around the
world which include the NFCR Center for Computational Drug Design at Oxford
University, directed by W. Graham Richards, D.Sc.; the NFCR Center for
Genomics and Nutrition at the University of California Berkeley, co-directed
by Bruce N. Ames, Ph.D. and Martyn T. Smith, Ph.D; the NFCR Center for Protein
Chemistry at Yale University, co-directed by Alanna Schepartz, Ph.D. and
Donald M. Crothers, Ph.D. and the NFCR Center for Molecular Oncology at the
Institute of Medicinal Biotechnology in Beijing directed by  Jian-Dong Jiang,
M.D., Ph.D.,
    The Berlin center will be a particularly significant addition to the NFCR
network as RNA research is playing an increasingly important role in providing
tools furthering the field of genetic research, providing answers that can
lead to cutting edge medical breakthroughs.
    "That the NFCR chose to establish this center at Berlin's Freie
Universitat bears testimony to the quality of the science taking place within
the region," says Lorie Karnath, senior vice president Industrial Investment
Council.  "The RNA Network was and remains a unique concept heralded before
its time due to the forward thinking of the Freie Universitat's science team."
    Dr. Christoph von Rohr, chairman of the Industrial Investment Council of
Berlin says, "The Industrial Investment Council was happy to provide the
catalyst that led to the establishment of the Center, benefiting not only
science in Germany but fostering science on the global level via this
acclaimed international network."
    All of the NFCR centers are in the process of being interactively linked
through the Internet. The concept represents a unique opportunity to utilize
the powerful reach of the Internet and the World Wide Web in order to
synergistically amass a stellar set of scientists in complementary disciplines
who together should be able to make real inroads into the overwhelmingly
important problems of cancer prevention, cancer diagnosis, and cancer
treatment.
    "We are exceptionally honored to be chosen for the new NFCR center," says
Dr. Volker A. Erdmann, Chairman of RiNA e.v. and director of the new NFCR
center.  "The flexible funding support and the ability to collaborate our
efforts and experience with the high caliber activities of the other NFCR
centers will help to spur new creative ideas, hopefully yielding synergistic
results."
    The National Foundation for Cancer Research is a premier cancer-related
charity fully dedicated to advancing basic cancer research in the laboratory.
Formed in 1973 to support research related to the prevention, earlier
detection, better treatment, and cure of cancer, NFCR encourages and
facilitates collaboration and the sharing of ideas and results among
scientists by providing funding to more than 30 individual laboratories and 6
NFCR research centers.  By supporting the best ideas of the best minds, and by
facilitating collaboration among scientists, advances in one field can
contribute to discoveries in others.  Since its founding NFCR has provided
more than $170 million to fund discovery-oriented research that has played a
key role in many current breakthroughs in the prevention, diagnosis and new
treatments of all types of cancer.
    The RNA Network was founded in 1998 as a joint venture between the
Institute of Biochemistry at the Freie Universitat of Berlin and the
professional association RiNA e.v., which had been formed to administer and
coordinate RNA-based projects in the Berlin area.  Dr. Volker A. Erdmann a
professor at the Institute and a founder of RiNA, was named and continues to
serve as chairman to the Network.  The RNA Network is financially supported by
the Berlin Government through the Senator for Economics and the Senator for
Sciences and Culture.  Additional financial support comes from the Federal
Ministry of Sciences and Technology as well as via industry partners.
    The Industrial Investment Council (IIC) was established in 1996 to assist
in facilitating foreign investment in eastern Germany.  The IIC works with
companies seeking an international presence and helps them in evaluating
eastern Germany as a business location.  The IIC will support a company, on a
no cost-basis, with everything from market studies to site selection, grant
subsidy applications and cooperation opportunities.  To enhance these efforts
in the life sciences sector, the IIC initiated a series of U.S./German
International Scientific Symposiums geared towards scientific exchange between
the two countries.  These symposiums were instrumental in NFCR's decision to
open a Center at the Freie Universitat of Berlin.

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