SBRI receives $30.6 million contract; Amgen's Randy Hassler to head finance, operations

SEATTLE The Seattle Biomedical Research Institute has been awarded a $30.6 million federal contract by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to create a new infectious disease research center, according to published reports.

The new center, the Seattle Structural Genomics Center for Infectious Disease, will be housed at SBRI and operated through partnerships with three other local research entities, including the University of Washington. Most of the new contract will be spent on personnel, materials for experiments and some equipment.

The new center’s goal will be determining the structure of proteins in deadly diseases and then make its findings available to the “worldwide scientific community.” Information published by the new center could serve as a blueprint for new vaccines, drugs and diagnostics.

The institute also announced the hiring of former Amgen vice president Randy Hassler as its new vice president of finance and operations. Hassler replaces former chief operating officer Jim Gore who was asked to resign in May over ineffective leadership. Hassler will oversee facilities, information technology, finance and human resources for SBRI when he starts work on Jan. 7.