Governor Gregoire addresses the Pacific Health Summit

June 17, 2008

* As Written*

Good Afternoon, and thank you for the kind introduction.

I want to welcome everybody to the great City of Seattle and the Great State of Washington!

Winter this year just ended last week, so you arrived at a good time!

You are here once again from just about every continent on the planet � from the Americas to Japan and India, and from Canada to the UK to Africa � to learn, exchange ideas and information, and to forge partnerships�all to create a healthier world.

You�ve come to the right place.

I know I don�t need to convince any of you about Seattle�s established and growing presence in the realm of global health -- but I just can�t resist.

If you happen to be circling our Lake Union in a float plane � (a lot of people do that) �you can look out any window and see what I�m talking about.

Starting in the south, you will see Seattle Biomedical Research Institute, which might find the cure for malaria�

Turn slightly, and you�ll spot the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Institute � home to several Nobel Prize winners.

Next in your view around the shore is the current home of the Gates Foundation � which is confronting many of the world�s most dreaded diseases.

Keep turning and you see the Washington Life Sciences Discovery Fund � one of my proudest accomplishments � which makes investments in innovative life sciences research to benefit our state and our world.

To the north is the Institute for Systems Medicine and its founder, Dr. Lee Hood.

To the northwest is PATH -- a non-profit born and raised in this city with offices all over the world and some of the most compelling strategies to defeat disease in developing countries.

Speaking of PATH, I�m sure many of you know PATH�s incredible work around nutrition and healthy life styles.

I�d like to mention what the state of Washington is doing too.

In 2005, we created the Life Sciences Discovery Fund to use a mix of tobacco-settlement and private money to help life-science research organizations flourish and to capitalize on their strengths.

It�s all about keeping Washington a leader in Global Health research, from medical technology breakthroughs to improved crop yields and animal health to feed a hungry world.

We are already putting our strategy to work in the clinics and laboratories of Washington and partnering around the globe.

It is extremely gratifying to me that the private sector sees the value of the Discovery Fund, and stepped up with funding even before the first state dollars were available.

Right now, one Discovery Fund research project is to develop a novel test to screen newborns to test for increased risk for Type I Diabetes -- with the hope we can minimize the illness and reduce the staggering cost of the disease.

Among other projects, the Discovery Fund is financing�

�Exploration and clinical trials of new cancer drugs at the Fred Hutchinson Center and work at the University of Washington to improve surgical quality at hospitals.

Another project is development of advanced technology at Battelle Memorial Institute to identify blood biomarkers for the diagnosis of liver disease, cancer and diabetes.

This is important work will be useful not just here in Washington but in physician offices and hospitals all over the world.

I want this audience to know that I�m well aware of the value of this summit as a very important venue to forge new collaborations and partnerships among leading scientists and policy makers around the world.

In fact, I will mention just one such partnership in which I happen to be involved.

Two years ago, I signed a memorandum of understanding between Washington State University and Queensland, Australia, to further strengthen relationships between government, industry, business and academics.

The agreement strengthened our Queensland-Washington Advisory Group�which is a roundtable of leading scientists from both states tasked to advise both sides on future state-to-state collaborative efforts in life sciences research, industry and education.
So I�m pleased to tell you today that Washington State University and Queensland, Australia, are on the verge of announcing a joint project to work on development of a cattle vaccine for e-coli.

I don�t think I need to tell this audience what a huge breakthrough that would be globally in terms of food safety and nutrition.
Again, I want to welcome all of you to Seattle. The importance of your work to the people of our planet can�t be overstated.

I am confident it will be a productive summit.

Thank You