Dr. Richard and Pamela Houghten at their new home in Vero Beach. As president and CEO of the Torrey Pines Institute for Molecular Studies, which recently relocated from San Diego to Port St. Lucie, Houghten is leading the movement to create a Research Coast here. Pamela is the company’s director of Education and Community Outreach.
There is a scientific renaissance taking place along the Treasure Coast, and the spark that ignited the flame can be traced back to a phone call that former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush made to Dr. Richard Houghten, president of Torrey Pines Institute for Molecular Studies, a few years ago. Houghten had just arrived back at his California home when his daughter told him, “I think the governor of Florida called you.” Houghten was not sure if the phone call “was a hoax or not,” but as it turned out it was completely legitimate. Today, three years later, Dr. Houghten is a Vero resident and playing a major role in transforming the Treasure Coast into the Research Coast.
In late 2006, Houghten accepted a $90-million incentive package from state and local governments to relocate the headquarters of his biomedical research facility from San Diego to Port St. Lucie. In exchange for the contributions and tax exemptions, he promised to create 189 jobs over the next 10 years. Like any good research company, there was also the potential for spin-offs. Less than two years after the Torrey Pine announcement, two other research groups have agreed to relocate to Tradition in Port St. Lucie: The Portland-based Vaccine & Gene Therapy Institute (VGTI) and the Mann Research Center from California.
Read the entire article in the April 2009 issue
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