From government, she's got a hand out.

• Position: People - A discussion of North Carolina Biotechnology Center president and CEO Leslie Alexandre - Biography

Leslie Alexandre's experience in Washington as a legislative staffer, then lobbyist, made her a natural choice to be president and CEO of the North Carolina Biotechnology Center. After all, the private nonprofit, which promotes research and commerce in its field, has long been on the dole.

About 60% of its $10 million budget this year comes from the state. Alexandre wants to dig into federal coffers, which now provide none of the budget, plus up the take from private sources.

Diversifying the subsidy stream is crucial. Because of the state's budget crisis, the 53-employee center is getting fewer state dollars. But she doesn't think it'll be too tough to get the feds and private donors to pony up. "North Carolina has been the model for biotech development."

Enriqueta Bond, chair of the center's board, says Alexandre, 44, was picked to lead the center because "she was a three-fer. She had policy experience. She knew the science. And she had biotech-company experience." Alexandre, who started work Aug. 1, makes $175,000 a year.

Her career started in public health. A Washington state native who grew up in the San Francisco Bay area, she got a bachelor's in community health administration from the University of California, Davis, in 1978. Next came a master's in public health from the University of California, Los Angeles, in '82 and a doctorate there in the same subject in '87.

While in graduate school and afterwards, she worked as a healthcare consultant. In 1990, she took a job on Capitol Hill as a health-care expert. The next year, the senator she worked for...