The bioscience industry faces many of the same challenges as other industries: hard-working entrepreneurs struggling to make it on their own–often afraid to talk to others for fear of competition, stealing employees, etc. But because of the scarcity of resources, it may be that acknowledging interdependence is even more important for those in the bioscience area. So much of what goes on in your area of science will depend on what’s happening in mine, and so on. If you can no longer employ this well-trained chemist, maybe I can. Perhaps a collaborative effort will net greater funding than a single company could expect…

In an effort to change the status quo, Bob Schmidt of Cleveland Medical Devices in Northeast Ohio teamed up with others nearly a year and a half ago to start trying to get members of the sciences connected in this area. The hope was that developing relationships among people in the industry–leaders and players alike–would help change the feelings of isolation.

The resulting organization, fledgling NEOBio, is “dedicated to building a strong bioscience community. It works to foster conditions that favor networking, education, and collaboration,” according to Steve Goldberg, one of the co-founders Schmidt worked with.

But perhaps even more poignantly he said, “People want to help each other, but Americans are afraid to say ‘I need help.'” 

“The risks of starting out in bioscience are incredibly high. The passion of the people who do try is immeasurable—they truly care about saving lives or improving the quality of life. That’s why they hang in there through the really tough challenges.”

We introduce this publication as a contribution to those dedicated people and hope that it will help make a difference.