Topeka ? Jesse Shaver told Kansas lawmakers Tuesday that the state’s future depended upon getting people like himself to come back home.

Shaver, 25, who was born and raised in western Kansas, attends Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville, Tenn., where he is studying to be a doctor and scientist.

He testified to the House Economic Development Committee in favor of a bill designed to increase life science research in Kansas.

“Hopefully, when I finish my training in a few years, I will return to a Kansas that is as economically vibrant and productive as I know it can be,” Shaver said. “Kansas is ready.”

Shaver, who received his undergraduate degree from Fort Hays State University, is already making an impact on research and development in life sciences.

He said he invented a device to measure the thickness of a person’s cornea, and he has developed a company that will try to market it to opthamologists for use in detecting glaucoma.

He wrote a grant for the invention that is bringing $360,000 to Vanderbilt, which pays a portion of the salaries of his professors, he said.

The proposed life science legislation in Kansas by state Sen. Nick Jordan, R-Shawnee, and state Rep. Kenny Wilk, R-Lansing, would capture tax dollars above a certain limit from bioscience firms and plow that money back into research efforts. The revenue also would be used to attract eminent scholars and rising stars in the research world.

Researchers and higher education officials voiced support of the legislation, saying it would boost the economy and produce health breakthroughs that would benefit everyone.

“We want those discoveries to be made here in Kansas,” said Janice DeBauge, chairwoman of the Kansas Board of Regents.

Barbara Atkinson, executive dean of the KU Medical Center, and Kim Wilcox, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, talked about the tough competition in recruiting top-flight researchers.

But the payoff to those who win the recruiting wars is almost immediate, Atkinson said, when researchers bring their grants and researching teams to Kansas, which in turn produces jobs and attracts more research dollars.

Clay Blair, chairman of an authority building research facilities at KU and other schools, said Kansas needed to adopt the bill to help bring research developments in Kansas to the marketplace.

“We cannot move fast enough. This legislation will allow Kansas to recruit the best people,” Blair said.

DeBauge, head of the regents, said the bill was critical to put Kansas on par with others states in committing dollars to research.

“We are still playing catch-up on federal dollars in research,” she said. “It is vital to have this kind of investment to ensure the quality of life for all Kansans.”

As part of the proposal, state Rep. Tom Sloan, R-Lawrence, filed a bill before the committee that would authorize the state to issue bonds for bioscience companies to build new laboratories and facilities in Kansas. The bonds would be paid back by the companies, Sloan said.

Shaver, the Kansas native studying at Vanderbilt, said Kansas should take advantage of the experience gained in efforts from other places, such as the Research Triangle in North Carolina, and stay flexible to design “something truly new.”

He said too often graduates of Kansas universities go to “technologically and economically greener pastures. That outflow must be addressed through strong leadership and thoughtful policy-making.”