Venter to Consolidate TIGR, Four Non-Profits into Single Institute

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Washington, Sept. 27 (GenomeWeb News) - Craig Venter plans to merge the Institute for Genomic Research and four non-profit organizations that he currently directs into a single umbrella organization called the J. Craig Venter Institute, GenomeWeb News has learned.

Venter told GenomeWeb today at TIGR's annual GSAC meeting that the decision to consolidate the non-profit groups grew out of a need to streamline operational costs. The five groups currently each have separate boards, administrative operations, and other activities that will now be combined under the single institute.

"We did this so we could save some money and to make it easier to manage," Venter said.

The J. Craig Venter Institute will comprise TIGR, which Venter founded twelve years ago, and a group of non-profits that he launched in 2002: the J. Craig Venter Science Foundation, the Institute for Biological Energy Alternatives (IBEA), the Center for the Advancement of Genomics (TCAG), and the foundation's JointTechnologyCenter.

Venter said that the five groups together currently manage a grant portfolio of more than $100 million.

The new institute will employ approximately 500 people, Venter said, and no layoffs are expected.

Venter said the institute will provide further details of the consolidation tomorrow.