William Hoffman
 		Communications,
Department of Laboratory Medicine & Pathology,
University of Minnesota
 Phone: (612) 624-7116
FAX: (612) 625-1121
E-mail: hoffm003@umn.edu
Executive Director & Founder


World Stem Cell Map
Nature,
December 22, 2005
Financial Times, July 20, 2006

The Library of Congress is preserving parts of MBBNet through its
Web Archiving project
Global Bioclusters Map
The Hon. Jeff Bingaman
U.S. Senate
April 11, 2007
World Stem Cell Policy Map
U.S. Senate, April 11, 2007

Current Talk Themes

Stem Cells and the New Age of Discovery

The World is Flat: Some Implications for Universities.

Education

St. Johns University, Collegeville, MN
University of Minnesota, B.A. history
University of Minnesota, M.A. journalism and mass communication

Professional Experience

Free-lance writer
Independent consultant
Editor and writer, University Relations, University of Minnesota [1978 - 1983]
Editor/Communications, Dept. of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Minnesota [1983 - ]
Science writer, Research and Diagnostic Systems, Inc., Minneapolis [1987 - 1988]
Assistant to the Director, Biomedical Engineering Center, University of Minnesota [1990 - 1997]
Director of Communications and Community Affairs, Institute of Medical Biotechnology, University of Minnesota [1997 - 2000]
Coordinator, Pre-graduate educational programs in biomedical technology and bioscience [1990 - 2003]
Executive Director & Founder, MBBNet [1995 - ]
Member, Public Education Committee, International Society for Stem Cell Research - ISSCR [2005 - 2011]

Publications

Books

William Hoffman and Leo Furcht, The Biologist's Imagination: Innovation in the Biosciences, Oxford University Press, June 2014.


First edition, April 2008
★Awarded a star by Kirkus Reviews for "remarkable merit"


Second edition, October 2011

James H. Moller, William A. Neal, and William Hoffman. A Parent's Guide to Heart Disorders, [AHA Homepage] University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, MN, 1988.

Articles

William Hoffman, "The Tallgrass Prairie: Raymond Lindeman, a Minnesota Bog Lake, and the Birth of Ecosystems Ecology" in: Anthony J. Amato, ed., Conservation on the Northern Plains: New Perspectives (Sioux Falls: Center for Western Studies, Augustana University, 2017): pp. 1-31 (PDF).

William Hoffman, "Ecosystems, Food Crops, and Bioscience: A Symbiosis for the Anthropocene" Asian Biotechnology and Development Review 18:1, 39-68, March 2016 (PDF).

William Hoffman, "Bioscience Will Accelerate East-West Convergence in the Century Ahead" Brookings Institution TechTank, July 30, 2015.

William Hoffman and Leo Furcht, "Divergence, Convergence, and Innovation: East-West Bioscience in an Anxious Age" Asian Biotechnology and Development Review 16:3, 3-23, November 2014 (PDF).

William Hoffman, "The Shifting Currents of Bioscience Innovation" Global Policy 5:1, 76-84, February 2014 (PDF).

William Hoffman. "Tracking Keynes through King's: Economics, Genes and the Possibilities for Our Grandchildren," King's Review, Cambridge, July 29, 2014

William Hoffman. "Bioscience, Flies, and the Future of Teleportation," Oxford University Press blog, July 21, 2014

William Hoffman. "Meet Monsieur Cholesterol" Update (University of Minnesota), Fall 1979. (Profile of world-renowned cardiovascular epidemiologist Ancel Keys).

William Hoffman. "A Glacier, a Lake, a River, and Soil for the Future" Report (University of Minnesota), Spring 1979. (Report on the 1979 flood in the Red River Valley).

William Hoffman. "Travels of a Newspaperman: From Minneapolis to Moscow" Update (University of Minnesota), Winter 1981. (Profile of Pulitzer-prize winning journalist Harrison Salisbury).

William Hoffman. "Cray's Mark Remains, Speed with Simplicity," Update (University of Minnesota), Spring 1983. (Exclusive profile of supercomputer genius Seymour Cray.

William Hoffman. "Atoms in the Atmosphere: Infinitesimally small changes in the atmosphere endanger our invisible life support system" Minnesota magazine, July/August 1984.

Jorge J. Yunis and William R. Hoffman. "Birth of an Errant Cell: A New Theory About the Cause of Cancer,"The Sciences (New York Academy of Sciences), November/December 1985.

William Hoffman. "Gene Splicing: Giving Life a New Twist." Encounters (Science Museum of Minnesota), January/February 1987, pp. 11-15.

J.J. Yunis, W.R. Hoffman. "Nuclear Enzymes, Fragile Sites, and Cancer," Journal of Gerontology (Biological Sciences, Special Issue) 44:37-44, 1989.

Jorge J. Yunis, William R. Hoffman. "Fragile Sites as a Mechanism in Carcinogenesis," The Cancer Bulletin (MD Anderson Cancer Center) 41 (5):283-292, 1989.

William Hoffman. "The Long View From The Watonwan River" The Millenarian Odyssey of Pioneer Druggist Henry Wellcome. Unpublished manuscript, 1990.

Consultant to Leo T. Furcht, M.D. for "Laboratory Medicine in the 21st Century" and "Biotechnology: Challenges, Convergence, and a New Century".

William Hoffman. "Taking the Pulse of Medical Technology: Will health system reform put innovation--and maybe our economy--at risk?" Minnesota Medicine: A Journal of Clinical and Health Affairs, Vol. 77, November 1994.

William Hoffman. "Indispensable: Hospitals and physicians increasingly are relying on the expertise of clinical pharmacists like Wendy St. Peter to help manage patients' care" Minnesota Medicine: A Journal of Clinical and Health Affairs, Vol. 78, August 1995.

William Hoffman. "Business Forum: 'Fertile soil' for biological research" Star Tribune [Minneapolis], September 14, 2003.

Websites
Online column

The Doric Column    Occasional reflections on science, technology, medicine, and culture

Talks

  • "Embryonic Stem Cell Research: A Global Project," Theology and Genetics, University of St. Thomas, Jan. 7, 2009.

  • "MBBNet: Connecting Minnesota's Biomedical and Bioscience Community,"Health Informatics seminar, University of Minnesota, January 25, 2007.

  • "New Knowledge Frontiers in a Flat World: A Campus Perspective," Yale University Library - Integrated Library Technology Services, New Haven, CT, September 28, 2006.

  • "Stem Cells and the New 'Age of Discovery'" [PowerPoint, 5MB] for the plenary session "Stem Cells and the Future of Science -- Boon or Bust?" - Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM), Central Regional Meeting, Minneapolis, July 23, 2006.

  • "Stem Cells and the Global Revolution in Science and Medicine" -- Saints Network Luncheons, St. John's University, Minneapolis, Minnesota, December 17, 2004.

  • "Stem Cells: Human Health, Global Competition, and National Security" -- Economics Club and Public Policy Learning Community, St. John's University, Collegeville, Minnesota, November 19, 2003. (Slides modified from original presentation)

  • "Clusters, Innovation, and the Life Sciences" The regional web portal as a university information extension service for an urban-regional knowledge economy. State and Local Economic Development Workshop, Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, February 27, 2003, with Maryann Feldman, PhD., Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, "University Technology Transfer Mechanisms: Adaptation and Evolution."

  • "A Cluster of Innovation" Biomedical Engineering Institute Advisory Board, Basic Sciences and Biomedical Engineering Building, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, June 21, 2002.

  • "Clusters of Innovation: Minnesota, Looking Ahead" MedicalSuds Evening Gathering, McNamara Alumni Center, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, March 5, 2002.

  • "Inventing and Debating Electronic Regions" Center for Rural and Regional Studies, Southwest State University, Marshall, Minnesota, November 16, 2000.

  • Speaker, "The U of M Talks Telecommunications: What's Happening in Transportation and Telemedicine?" Telecommunications and Information Society Policy Forum, Humphrey Institute, October 25, 2000

  • "Bits, Brains, and Biomedical Technology: A Minnesota Perspective" Health Informatics Seminar, October 24,1996

    Honors

    Finalist, Leadership Award, 2006 Tekne Awards [Minnesota's Technology Leaders]

    Nominated for Twin Cities International Citizen Award for 2001