Leadership
Charles E. Hamner, D.V.M., Ph.D., Chairman, Board of Directors
Charles E. Hamner, D.V.M., Ph.D. is chairman of the board of directors at The Hamner Institutes for Health Sciences, located in Research Triangle Park (RTP), North Carolina. Dr. Hamner is well-known for his pivotal role in advancing North Carolina and the RTP to preeminence within the biosciences industry. His name stands out as a biotechnology pioneer whose accomplishments have brought a huge new industry to the state.
When the North Carolina General Assembly created the North Carolina Biotechnology Center in 1981, it was the nation's first state-sponsored biotechnology initiative. Reorganized in 1984 as a private, nonprofit corporation, the center recognized that a fresh vision and strong leadership was vital for growth. Dr. Hamner met with the center's board of directors in 1987 to propose his comprehensive business model, which featured cornerstones of support from academics, industry and state government. His own background was a unique combination of experience in these three areas. The center agreed and gave him the opportunity to lead the organization.
At the time, Dr. Hamner had just finished serving 10 years as Associate Vice President for Health Affairs at the University of Virginia Medical Center, where he helped transform the organization to a thriving medical institution with an annual profit. Prior to that position, he consulted and worked for many years at a pharmaceutical company and also as a researcher at the University of Virginia, where he helped develop the technique of in vitro fertilization in cats. With a bachelor's degree in animal husbandry from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and three degrees from the University of Georgia - a master's degree in chemistry, a doctor of veterinary medicine degree, and a doctoral degree in biochemistry - Dr. Hamner was well prepared to coordinate collaboration among university, government and industry at the Biotechnology Center.
First, he had to persuade North Carolina leaders why biotechnology should play a major role in the state's future. To accomplish this, Dr. Hamner asked the Biotechnology Center's board of directors to help him meet with the 30 most influential academic, industry and government leaders in North Carolina. Of those leaders, half were enthusiastic about Dr. Hamner's vision and said they wanted to help, while the other half were noncommittal. Yet Dr. Hamner ultimately succeeded in persuading decision makers to understand the big picture. With its top research universities and medical schools, extensive community college system, spacious research parks, progressive business climate, fledgling biotechnology industry and abundant natural resources, North Carolina was poised to develop into a biosciences titan.
Dr. Hamner worked closely with political leaders, hammering out tough policy issues and obtaining North Carolina research dollars. He began by having the Biotech Center help hire more than 40 of the world's best scientists into the research universities. The Center granted the research universities $70 million to pay for professors, and the professors in turn applied to research organizations such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for grants, winning $850 million in funding. Under Dr. Hamner's leadership, the Center provided biotechnology workshops for 1,000 high school teachers, with the result that 100,000 students learned about life sciences careers in the biotech industry. To move research results from the laboratory to the market, Dr. Hamner developed a convertible loan fund that helped 52 startup companies obtain $450 million in venture capital. Among the 14 top biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies he helped recruit to the area are Bayer, BASF, Biogen and Wyeth. These companies built $900 million worth of facilities and created 6,000 new jobs in North Carolina. The state spent millions promoting Dr. Hamner's biotechnology business plan, but it has reaped billions from the effort.
North Carolina today ranks among the nation's top five biotechnology states. More than 358 bioscience companies are headquartered or have operations in North Carolina, employing more than 48,031 people, according to the Biotechnology Center's database. For the third consecutive year, North Carolina ranks third in the nation in the number of biotechnology companies, according to Ernst and Young's 2006 industry survey.
Dr. Hamner was instrumental in ensuring that a conference facility was part of the Biotechnology Center's headquarters. Named for him in 2002, the Hamner Conference Center is a beautiful facility centrally located in RTP and equipped with almost 20,000 square feet of meeting space available to biotechnology and non-biotechnology clients for either professional or educational events.
After leading the North Carolina Biotechnology Center for 14 years, Dr. Hamner retired on March 31, 2002, but not for long. Now he is the namesake for The Hamner Institutes for Health Sciences, a private, nonprofit organization with goals just as lofty as those of the Biotechnology Center. The Hamner is in a strong position to continue its traditional environmental risk assessments while expanding to translational pharmaceutical research and development. Translational research teams consist of basic and clinical multidisciplinary scientists who are members of both academic and industrial communities. The Hamner has the facilities, the scientific expertise, the experience and FDA Good Laboratory Practices certification, all of which allows the integration of safety and efficacy studies during the preclinical development of pharmaceuticals. The Hamner also provides a capstone specialty training experience for Ph.D. scientists from academics, industry and government. It is a gathering place for meeting, discussing and resolving topical scientific issues and governmental science policy, leading to a cleaner environment and better standard of living for all.
Throughout his research career, Dr. Hamner has authored more than 50 scientific publications, co-authored chapters in 12 books on reproductive physiology and biochemistry, and edited two editions of Drug Development. Dr. Hamner maintains membership in the following professional societies: American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Veterinary Medical Association, Biotechnology Industry Organization, Drug Information Association, FASEB, American Physiological Society and Society for the Study of Fertility. A lifetime gardener and tennis player, he lives with his wife of 45 years in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.