Growing Ohio’s High Performance Economy (cont.)

The Genome Research Institute is a partnership among the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Research Foundation, Procter & Gamble, Wright State University, and the Air Force Research Laboratory to further genetic research and develop new medical therapies.

In the mid 1980s, Ohio created the Edison Technology Center Program to strengthen industrial competitiveness. Funded by industrial, state and federal sources, the Edison Technology Centers help companies by providing consulting services on industry best practices, solving manufacturing problems, introducing new technological advances, educating and training management and fostering the growth of emerging industry sectors. By tailoring services to the needs of companies in industries such as advanced manufacturing, materials and processes, welding and materials joining, and biotechnology, the Edison Technology Centers translate their industry expertise into competitive advantages for Ohio companies.

The Third Frontier Project allows Ohio universities, research institutions and corporate entities to pool their expertise and join forces to propose multi-disciplinary research initiatives for state funding. These proposals are submitted to the state and undergo a rigorous evaluation process by third-party entities such as the National Academy of Sciences, to score and rank them by feasibility, likelihood to succeed and job creation. A governor-appointed board of officials approves the recommended proposals and awards the funds.

Often, these state funds are the catalyst the research initiatives need to attract additional funding, validating them as viable projects to federal agencies and private investment sources. In 2003, the Third Frontier Project helped the University of Cincinnati establish the Genome Research Institute (GRI) – a partnership that includes the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Research Foundation, Procter & Gamble, Wright State University and the Air Force Research Laboratory – to further genetic research and develop new medical therapies. The state awarded GRI $9 million, which the institute then was able to leverage in attracting federal, nonprofit and industrial funding of more than three times that of the state’s investment. This additional money enables GRI to fund more research, create jobs and recruit some of the world’s preeminent scholars in genetic research, including Dr. George Thomas, a Swiss professor who discovered an enzyme that could unlock the mystery to understanding and curing obesity.

Advance commercialization

The private sector has been reticent to collaborate with universities because sharing trade secrets often has meant surrendering control of intellectual property rights on any product advancements. However, by encouraging private industry to come to the table with universities on jointly proposed research, both parties agree to their roles from the onset and benefit from the melding of expertise. New companies can be formed from the research, providing investment and ownership of the technologies by all parties.

The Third Frontier Project demonstrates how successful collaborations between research institutions and the private industry can be. In 2003, Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland was awarded more than $19.5 million in Third Frontier Project funds to create the Center for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine. The partnership, which includes the Cleveland Clinic, Ohio State University and private industry specialist Athersys, is currently working with stem cells to develop treatments for musculoskeletal disorders, cardiovascular disease, cancers and other degenerative diseases such as Lou Gehrig’s disease and multiple sclerosis. Already, the research has yielded a method to regenerate blood vessels in human tissue and restore blood flow in blocked arteries, and has resulted in the creation of a spin-off company, Arteriocyte, to commercialize the technology.

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