Go getters

Dr. Michael Mullan, who runs an organization that studies treatments for diseases of the mind, has avoided a thorny issue that regularly stymies local bioscience facilities: recruiting and retaining top employees.

“We don't have trouble getting fantastic talent,” says Mullan, president and CEO of the Manatee County-based Roskamp Institute. “It's very easy to get people to come here.”

So easy Mullan regularly turns away distinguished scientists worldwide, from Ireland to Harvard. Mullan points out the obvious lures of the Sarasota-Bradenton region, like climate and beaches, as reasons people seek employment at Roskamp. “I think of this as La Jolla without the hills,” adds Mullan, referring to the California home of the Scripps Research Institute, another renowned facility.