Innovators for the 21st Century: Will We Face a Crisis in Biomedical-Research Brainpower?

THE future of biomedical research and technological innovation depends first and foremost on talent — on the quality of the biomedical man- and womanpower that is being developed now for tomorrow. The advice that the American educator and former president of Harvard University James Bryant Conant gave in 1945 still holds true: "There is only one proved method of assisting the advancement of pure science — that of picking men of genius, backing them heavily and leaving them to direct themselves."1 Crucial to this formula for advancement is the availability of that manpower (a term I will use here to . . .