ATHENS, Ohio -- Ohio University has received a National Science Foundation Partnerships for Innovation grant, a program designed to foster basic science research, economic development and university-industry alliances.
The university, one of only 19 institutions nationwide to receive funding, will use the grant for an initiative that will create high-tech jobs, advances in life sciences research and hands-on learning opportunities for students.
The three-year, $600,000 grant will allow the university to build on a successful history of fostering biotechnology companies in southeastern Ohio, businesses founded on Ohio University research that employ students and local residents, said David Wight, director of the university's Edison Biotechnology Institute and lead author of the grant.
"This award is part of a long-term strategy to help grow the biotechnology industry in southeastern Ohio and was designed to fill specific regional gaps," he said. "Our ultimate goals with this program are to create and strengthen partnerships between faculty and regional businesses and to provide a trained work force and novel technologies for these start-up companies."
In the first year of the award, the university will partner with three companies in southeastern Ohio. Each company will be paired with a research team within the university that is working in an area of interest to the company.
The project features a two-year plan with each company: In the first year, the university will hire a full-time postdoctoral researcher or lab technician and a part-time student; the corporate partner will cover the costs of supplies. These positions will be housed at the university, but will be devoted to working on a research project the university andcompany devise. During the second year, the two staff members move to thecompany, which will cover salaries and all operational costs for that year.
"This plan is designed to provide a workforce with ties to the regionand increased opportunities not only for students, but residents in theregion as the companies grow," Wight said, adding that both employees andcorporate partners must make a two-year commitment to the program. "Thehope is that the companies will be successful and grow to providecontinuing opportunities for those two individuals as well as others."
When Wight and his collaborators drafted the grant proposal, they timedthe project to coincide with the opening of the university's new InnovationCenter building, located on West State Street. The southeastern Ohiocompanies that signed on with the plan likely will move into theInnovation Center after it opens next year.
"I am delighted that this award has been made to Ohio University," saidJohn Bantle, vice president for research. "Both EBI and the InnovationCenter are part of the university's research division. Our goal hasbeen to foster a biotechnology cluster in southeastern Ohio that cansynergize an industry here. This grant will certainly help this process and helpattract even more industry to our area."
The total investment by the NSF, Ohio University and private companiestotals nearly $1.8 million for the plan. Several area companiespartnered with the university on the grant, including GeneBact Biotechnologies inMarietta.
"Partnering relationships such as this one are an essential component to the growth and development of a biotechnology company like GeneBact,"said Jim Thacker, president and CEO of GeneBact, which also partnered withthe university on a successfully funded Technology Action Fund grant earlier this year.
"Ongoing efforts like these are creating a viablebiotechnology industry cluster in southeastern Ohio. Over the next decade, theseefforts will translate into a significant economic base for the region."
One of the first studies to receive support from the new NSF grant is apartnership between GeneBact and faculty in the College of OsteopathicMedicine, a project to study a new class of peptides for drugdevelopment.
Other projects that could receive support include diabetes-relatedresearch and studies of obesity. Other research initiatives will be identifiedover time, as the university formalizes plans with their partner, but Wightsaid the studies supported could result in new diagnostics, therapeutics anddrug-delivery mechanisms for human disease.
EBI has applied for several grants designed to support the institute'sstrategy for supporting basic science research while also growing thebiotechnology cluster in southeastern Ohio.
"We've received three Technology Action Fund grants to support theseefforts and also submitted a proposal to the state of Ohio BiomedicalResearch and Technology Transfer Trust Fund," he said. "Each proposaladdresses a different piece of the puzzle in our regional model to makebiotechnology a viable industry in southeastern Ohio."
The trust fund is supported by part of the state's tobacco settlementpayout. Ohio University's proposal was ranked as one of six fundableproposals, said Wight.
Other partners include Diagnostic Hybrids Inc., Interthyr Corporationand DiAthegen LLC, all located in Athens; Battelle, a research anddevelopment corporation based in Columbus; Athenian Venture Partners, a venturecapital organization started by the Ohio University Foundation; EdisonBioTechnology Center; the Governor's Office of Appalachia; and theGovernor's Regional Economic Development Office.
Within the university, project partners include EBI, the Vice Presidentfor Research, Russ College of Engineering and Technology and the College ofOsteopathic Medicine.
Only two universities in Ohio received NSF Partnerships in Innovationgrants this year: Ohio University and the University of Toledo. CaseWestern Reserve University received one last year.
