Pennington, LBTC seek to partner on incubator

The Pennington Biomedical Research Center wants to partner with the LSU System Research and Technology Foundation and LSU’s Louisiana Business and Technology Center on a new technology incubator. The Pennington Biotech Initiative would be located on the second floor of Pennington’s new imaging center, and would focus on assisting Pennington and LSU researchers in commercializing intellectual property, facilitating interaction with private-sector researchers, and incubating startup companies, according to a letter by Pennington Executive Director Dr. Steven Heymsfield to LSU System officials. Heymsfield is requesting approval for a memorandum of understanding from the LSU Board of Supervisors and the state’s Board of Regents. The tentative agenda for the LSU board’s next meeting, on Oct. 26, is not yet available, but the proposed agreement carries an effective date of Nov. 1. You can check out the preliminary proposal here. —David Jacobs