Eliot Marshall
The Maryland legislature is expected to give its approval this month to invest $20 million in state funds in a new virology institute to be headed by AIDS researcher Robert Gallo. In recent testimony and planning documents, state officials have articulated high hopes for the institute, which will be an adjunct of the University of Maryland, Baltimore. They are hoping for patentable inventions, hotel rooms filled with virologists attending meetings sponsored by the institute, and additional patients for the university's hospital.