Beach to river

California transplant Duarte takes key business development role at Bioworks Foudation

Memphis Business Journal
July 20, 2007
By Toby Sells

Thomas Duarte grew up sailing and surfing the Pacific from his home in Long Beach, Calif. He probably didn't know then that a big concern for him would one day be a dusty, vacant lot near Downtown Memphis.

"I am looking forward to seeing that barren field filled up with research and economic power," Duarte, 53, says of the future home of the UT-Baptist Research Park. The patch of land is across the street from Duarte's new office in the Memphis Bioworks Foundation building on South Dudley.

"I looked at the drawings of the research park and it amazes me to see all of the buildings and laboratory spaces," he says. "Just to have a hand in developing something like that -- knowing that there's new technologies and new developments and new markets that will be opened up for therapeutics -- for me it is a once in a lifetime chance."

Duarte is the foundation's first director of business development. In that role he'll be a resource for biotech executives looking to expand their companies or to get started.

Duarte came to the Bluff City from Long Beach via FedEx Corp. in 2004. The company recruited him to oversee the development of its life sciences segment. The professional jump made sense, he says, but it was hard to trade the Pacific for the Mississippi.

"It is tough to get away from the beach," he says laughing. "Growing up I lived pretty much right on the beach. "You'd get out of junior or middle school and you hung out at the beach all day. That's kind of what you did all summer. So moving to Memphis was quite a transition."

Duarte hasn't quite yet let go of his Long Beach roots. His children are still in school there so he flies home twice a month to see them.

But back on Memphis time, he is focused on fueling business and creating jobs. That focus is backed with 28 years of industry experience in various roles.

At California State University at Long Beach, his studies in psychology and biology took him to a Veteran's Administration lab where he found a penchant for oncology. Four years later in 1987, he and a group of his colleagues left the VA to start Oncotech, a biotech company focused on predicting drug resistance in cancer patients. The company remains today in Irvine, Calif.

Duarte left Oncotech after 10 years and joined ImPath, Inc., to guide some of its products in predictive oncology, hematology and dug resistance for chemotherapeutic agents.

That's when FedEx tapped him to attract new business from life science companies that ship diagnostic kits, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology packages and clinical trial kits.

"When you look at it financially, FedEx being here is a great thing for the community and Memphis itself because it is bringing in a lot of biotech and pharma," he says. "That's basically what is happening here with the research park."

Duarte's job will change over time as new projects appear. Now, however, he is charged with forming business and marketing plans for the Regional Biocontainment Lab, which is now under construction at the research park. The 30,000-square-foot facility will house 16,000 square feet of laboratory space and be available for researchers at University of Tennessee Health Science Center and from the private sector.

Dick Tarr, president of InMotion Musculoskeletal Institute, says Duarte's role is crucial to Bioworks' mission.

"The position is one of the key pillars of what Memphis Bioworks is all about," Tarr says. "They are here to develop the research park and grow the work force, but mostly they are here to provide the environment and infrastructure for new businesses in Memphis."

Tarr says Memphis is attractive for new life science businesses because of the research opportunities, existing health care organizations and certainly the logistical advantages it offers. Duarte's experiences with FedEx can only help get that message out.

Duarte is also helping the Mid-South e-Health Alliance form information exchanges among regional health care organizations. This will allow hospitals and clinics to share patient information, helping them reduce duplicity and, ultimately, provide better patient care.

"It will change the way medicine is practiced and the way patients are followed," he says. "This will be the reality of medicine and e-health in the near future."

Thomas Duarte

Director of business development, Memphis Bioworks Foundation
Age: 53
Birthplace: Long Beach, Calif.
Residence: Germantown
Education: B.S. in psychobiology, California State University at Long Beach
Family: Daughters Alexis, 18, and Carlie, 16
Hobbies: Golf, working around the house

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