One Health-focused summit highlights Purdue’s leadership in advancing human, plant and animal health

Purdue University leaders on Thursday (Nov. 13) joined more than 250 high-level representatives and experts from industry, academia, government and nonprofits for the BioCrossroads Life Sciences Summit to advance dialogue around Purdue’s growing leadership in the One Health movement.

Held at Elanco’s global headquarters in the emerging One Health Innovation District in Indianapolis, and presented in partnership with AgriNovus Indiana, the summit convened state and national thought leaders to discuss how Purdue’s strengths in medicine discovery and delivery, animal health and plant science can advance health and the one-health economy.

From comparative oncology to crop genetic science and advanced chemistry, discussions focused on where Purdue can make the greatest impact. Purdue President Mung Chiang underscored the importance of global health leadership and reaffirmed the university’s commitment to uniting research and education across human, animal and plant health through its One Health and Indianapolis initiatives — two of Purdue’s four strategic initiatives.

“Purdue is excited to partner with Elanco at the One Health Innovation District, a key success for both our One Health and Indianapolis initiatives,” Chiang said. “Working also with companies such as Eli Lilly and Corteva Agriscience, our outstanding faculty and students advance the intersection of human, animal and plant health.”

Panel discussions examined ways Purdue can:

• Align its strengths to address specific, high-impact One Health challenges
• Advance public health, environmental resilience and supply chain security
• Accelerate the vision for the One Health Innovation District
• Expand its global leadership in life sciences

Dan DeLaurentis, Purdue’s executive vice president for research and the Bruce Reese Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics, was also a summit panelist and discussed how the university is working to attract top researchers, train students and invest in infrastructure to support industry needs.

Other Purdue speakers included:

• Sylvie Brouder — Wickersham Chair of Excellence in Agricultural Research; director, Purdue Center for Global Food Security
• Heather Eicher-Miller — professor of nutrition science
• Elizabeth Topp — Maxine Spencer Nichols Professor in Chemical Engineering; chief science officer, National Institute for Bioprocessing Research and Training (NIBRT); director, William D. and Sherry L. Young Institute for Advanced Manufacturing of Pharmaceuticals
• Moderator: Lucy Flesch — Frederick L. Hovde Dean of the College of Science; professor of earth, atmospheric, and planetary sciences

U.S. Sen. Todd Young of Indiana and Ilya Yuffa, executive vice president of Eli Lilly and Company and president of Lilly USA and global customer capabilities, also participated in a fireside chat to discuss the state’s pivotal role in reshoring the nation’s animal, plant and human health supply chain. The summit concluded with remarks from Vince Wong, BioCrossroads president and CEO, who presented Young with the August Watanabe Life Sciences Champion of the Year Award.