The Austen BioInnovation Institute in Akron has landed three medical innovators to head its centers for medical device development, integrated health care education and community health improvement.
The new vice presidents also will lead collaborative efforts across the institute’s operating partners on initiatives that focus on patient-centered innovation and commercialization in biomaterials and medicine. The partners are Akron Children’s Hospital, Akron General Health System, Northeastern Ohio Universities Colleges of Medicine and Pharmacy (NEOUCOM), Summa Health System and the University of Akron.
“As we move forward with momentum, these appointments will help power [the institute’s] growth and reach,” said Frank Douglas, president and chief executive officer, in a written statement. “When you combine the expertise and fresh perspective that the newest members of our leadership bring, combined with the deep experience of our current team, [the institute] is poised for great success.”
The partners joined the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation to launch the institute in October 2008 with $80 million in state, academic and philanthropic grant commitments (including their own) for its first five years. The partners’ long-term goal is to build the institute into a full-fledged academic health center and commercialization hub for medical devices and therapies.
The institute still is conducting nationwide searches for the inaugural leaders of its Center for Clinical Trials and Center for Biomaterials and Medicine, said spokesman Scott Rainone.
Brian L. Davis has been appointed vice president of the Medical Device Development Center, which provides a resource for companies and researchers to design, test, synthesize and make new materials and discover health care applications for biomaterials that create products and jobs. The center also will provide entrepreneurs and scientists with access to device design expertise to accelerate commercialization of their ideas and products.
Davis is a leader in the fields of biomedical instrumentation, rehabilitation engineering and biomechanics from the Cleveland Clinic, where he was vice chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering and director of Medical Device Solutions.
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At Medical Device Solutions, Davis led a team of more than 30 engineers to enhance and create medical devices from ideas originating at the Clinic. His team had extensive experience in mechanical and electrical engineering design, prototype fabrication, in-vitro and in-vivo testing, finite element analysis and computational fluid dynamics analysis.
At the Clinic, Davis leveraged $5.1 million in Ohio Third Frontier grants with $8 million in matching funds. Ohio voters will decide on May 4 whether to renew the 10-year Third Frontier project for another four years.
Dr. Michael G. Holder Jr. has been appointed vice president of the Center for Simulation and Integrated Healthcare Education, which is establishing a nationally recognized model for simulation-based education and training programs. The center’s facilities, staff and services will serve as a central resource for simulation training in clinical skills.
Holder is an emerging leader in the use of simulation to improve patient safety, medical and health education, and health care delivery, according to the institute. He had been director of medical education and an attending physician in pediatric emergency medicine at Akron Children’s Hospital, one of the institute’s founding members.
In 2007, Holder created Akron Children’s simulation laboratory to help health professionals with educational technology, curriculum development, competency assessment and crisis resource management skills training. He also is associate dean of clinical education at NEOUCOM, and is a member of the institution’s Pediatric Council and Diversity Council.
Prior to Akron Children’s, Holder was a staff member at the National Cancer Institute and Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C.
Janine E. Janosky, has been appointed vice president of the Center for Community Health Improvement. This center is constructing and coordinating an infrastructure for community-based research. It’s also investigating and implementing processes for increased quality and effectiveness of the delivery of community-based medical care, with an emphasis upon the medically underserved in the Akron region. And it’s developing a national integrated health and wellness model.
Janosky is expert at attracting research money and achieving health initiatives that impact communities. Most recently, she was the vice provost for research at Central Michigan University where she led its technology transfer and commercialization efforts. Janosky’s unit created more than 15 companies and increased external grants and contracts by more than 20 percent, among other accomplishments.
Prior to joining Central Michigan, Janosky was executive director of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine’s Center for Primary Care Community-Based Research, which she created. The center provided clinical and community-based research, preventive and medical services, and education and training opportunities for physicians, health care professionals and students.
