The Coriell Institute for Medical Research received the inaugural Innovation Award from the Cooper’s Ferry Partnership at its annual meeting on Tuesday, March 5. This distinction recognizes Coriell’s role as a unique and critical resource to the global research community and its legacy of scientific foresight.
“It’s an honor to receive this award from an organization with such an important mission and fantastic track record,” Jean-Pierre Issa, MD, Coriell’s President and CEO, said. “Like Cooper’s Ferry, Coriell has long been committed to Camden, having called it home since our founding in 1953. Today, Coriell’s reputation is known far and wide and on behalf of everyone at the Coriell Institute, we’re thankful to receive this recognition locally as well.”
Cooper’s Ferry Partnership’s mission is to foster investment in the City of Camden and encourage revitalization. Over the years, Cooper’s Ferry Partnership has shepherded more than $2.5 billion in investments into Camden businesses and nonprofits.
“As Camden continues its rise and continues to draw new companies and new hope, it’s important to us to recognize the Camden mainstays who have contributed to this city for many decades,” Kris Kolluri, CEO of Cooper’s Ferry Partnership, said. “The Coriell Institute is a one-of-a-kind institution and we’re grateful we can call them a neighbor.”
The Coriell Institute was founded in Camden in 1953 and has established itself as a renowned supplier of biological materials to the global biomedical research community and sets the gold standard for biobanking excellence around the world. Dr. Lewis L. Coriell, an innovative scientist and founder of the Coriell Institute, was a leader of the polio vaccine effort and developed equipment and techniques still used to keep labs sterile today. Ten years ago, the Institute launched the Coriell Personalized Medicine Collaborative, a visionary and long-term personalized medicine study which examined the clinical value of genetic information.
Last year, the Coriell Institute partnered with Camden neighbors Cooper University Health Care and the Cooper Medical School of Rowan University to form the Camden Opioid Research Initiative, a wide ranging study looking at the basic risk factors for developing opioid use disorder. This new collaboration touches on various stages of the disease – patients receiving treatment for chronic pain, patients currently seeking treatment for opioid use disorder, and people who have died as a result of opioid overdose.
About the Coriell Institute for Medical Research
The Coriell Institute is a global leader in understanding how our personal genomes affect our health. Coriell is recognized as one of the world's leading biobanks, distributing biological samples and offering research and biobanking services to scientists in 85 countries around the globe. Coriell is the trusted steward of world-renowned collections for the National Institutes of Health, disease foundations and commercial clients. Coriell established its reputation as a leader in personalized medicine through the creation of the Coriell Personalized Medicine Collaborative, a research study which investigated the clinical utility of genomic information. Scientists at Coriell are now leveraging their expertise in genomics to develop new tools to prevent and treat opioid use disorder. The Institute is also unlocking the promise of induced pluripotent stem cells and their role in disease research and drug discovery. For more information, visit www.coriell.org, like Coriell on Facebook or follow @Coriell_Science on Twitter.
