CLEVELAND, Ohio — Gov. Ted Strickland and Ohio Board of Regents Chancellor Eric Fingerhut donned their high-tech marketing hats Friday, touting the state’s leadership in biomedical and health care innovation by announcing centers of excellence at 14 universities during a press conference at BioEnterprise.
The feel-good news came a day after Forbes magazine named Cleveland No. 1 on its annual America’s Most Miserable Cities list. Four other Ohio cities–Canton, 9th; Akron, 12th; Toledo, 15th; and Youngstown, 18th–made the Top 20 list.
The centers focus their academic and research activities on biomedical and health care enterprise, creating jobs and strengthening Ohio’s leadership in these industries, according to a release from the governor’s office. Ohio is home to 775 bioscience companies, including the headquarters to two Fortune 500 companies–Cardinal Health and Procter & Gamble.
With the Rise of AI, What IP Disputes in Healthcare Are Likely to Emerge?
Munck Wilson Mandala Partner Greg Howison shared his perspective on some of the legal ramifications around AI, IP, connected devices and the data they generate, in response to emailed questions.
Centers of excellence are the building blocks of universities as economic drivers, according the Board of Regents. The state already has named centers of excellence in alternative energy at eight universities.
These centers figure heavily in how the Ohio Third Frontier–the state’s $1.6 billion, 10-year economic development project–awards hundreds of millions of dollars in research, development and commercialization grants each year. Voters will be asked to renew Third Frontier in May.
“Aligning Ohio universities with Ohio’s growing biomedical and health care industries will generate economic growth and new, hard-to-outsource jobs,” Strickland said in the release. “Biomedicine and health care in Ohio create high-wage jobs, investments in facilities, research and development, and production. But much more than that, these industries bring forth medical breakthroughs that benefit citizens of Ohio and citizens of the world.”
The centers of excellence also help position the University System of Ohio as a magnet for talent and a leader in innovation and entrepreneurial activity by developing distinct missions for each institution, Fingerhut said. The Ohio Research Scholars program, a joint effort of Third Frontier, the Board of Regents and the University System of Ohio, uses the same centers of excellence approach.
A Personalized Approach to Medication Nonadherence
At the Abarca Forward conference earlier this year, George Van Antwerp, managing director at Deloitte, discussed how social determinants of health and a personalized member experience can improve medication adherence and health outcomes.
“The biomedical and health care sectors are two of the fastest-growing industries in the country,” Fingerhut said. “Each center of excellence brings unique approaches that, together, will drive economic growth and establish Ohio as the national leader in biomedicine and health care.”
The centers and their host universities:
- Austen BioInnovation Institute in Akron–University of Akron/Northeastern Ohio Universities Colleges of Medicine and Pharmacy (NEOUCOM)
- Health and Wellness Across the Lifespan–Bowling Green State University
- Translating Technology and Research into Better Health–Case Western Reserve University (including Case Center for Imaging Research, National Center for Regenerative Medicine, Center for Global Health and Diseases, Case Comprehensive Cancer Center)
- Transforming Healthcare in the 21st Century–University of Cincinnati (including UC Neuroscience Institute, Environmental Health Department, UC Cancer Center, UC Pediatrics Department and Metabolic Diseases Institute)
- Center for 21st Century Health Professionals and Researchers–Cleveland State University
- Tissue Regeneration and Engineering–University of Dayton
- Health of Individuals and Communities–Kent State University
- Structural Biology and Metabonomics–Miami University
- Institute for Neurobehavioral Health–NEOUCOM
- Health and Well Being, Human Behavior and Bioinformatics–Ohio State University
- Health and Wellness–Ohio University
- Translational Health and Bioscience–University of Toledo
- BioHealth Innovation–Wright State University (including National Center for Medical Readiness and Knowledge-Enabled and Human-Centered Computing)
- Understanding Disease and Other Disorders–Youngstown State University (including Rich Center for Autism)
