Edmond Courts
Knowledge Economy

Edmond, a city of 71,000 about 13 miles (21 km.) north of downtown Oklahoma City, prides itself on the education achievements of its residents. A recent estimate by SRC, a provider of national data and statistics, shows 53.9 percent of Edmond's residents age 25 and older have college degrees. The 2002 estimates shows Edmond's degreed population to be higher than such meccas for knowledge-based industries as Raleigh (49.9 percent), San Francisco (49.7 percent), Austin (45.5 percent) and Boston (41.5 percent).
        Adding to its reputation, Edmond recently snared the new research facilities of Nanobiomagnetics (NBMI), a firm engaged in the development and commercialization of magnetic nano-particle technologies for human health applications in an emerging area of nanobiomedicine referred to as Organ-Assisting Devices (OADs). Applications of OADs include vectored drug delivery, biofunctional switches, tissue repair and imaging/diagnostic materials. The company's initial focus is the vectored delivery of cardiac therapeutics for the treatment and prevention of atrial fibrillation, ischemia, plaque formation and blood clotting.
        "The new laboratory space will significantly expand NBMI's capabilities in the development of magnetically responsive nanoparticles that can be adapted to a wide range of human health applications," says Charles Seeney, CEO and co-founder.
        NBMI and the University of Oklahoma have established a collaborative research agreement under which both have agreed to explore various applications of nanotechnology.
        "This brings us another step closer to the establishment of an Oklahoma Nanobiotechnology Center," says Dr. Kenneth Dormer, professor of physiol ogy at Oklahoma University Health Science Center and NBMI's other co-founder.