Expanding Research in Akron

Last month I highlighted our region's R&D shortcomings and I'm pleased to now highlight an exciting opportunity to address that issue from a recent story in the Akron Beacon Journal:

A venture among rival hospitals in town aims to put Akron on the map as a national leader for fixing and preventing orthopedic problems.

The city's three hospital systems are joining with the University of Akron and the Northeastern Ohio Universities Colleges of Medicine and Pharmacy in a proposal to launch a research center focused on bones, joints and connective tissues.

High-level talks involving these and other partners could lead to a multimillion-dollar research facility within the city's biomedical corridor, which stretches from Akron General Medical Center, around downtown and to Akron City Hospital.

A major step toward creating the Orthopaedic Research Institute of Northeastern Ohio begins on Monday, when the partners are expected to file a detailed grant application seeking $27.5 million from a new Third Frontier state initiative called the Ohio Research Scholars Program.

Thanks to the hard work of NorTech and many others, Northeast Ohio has received hundreds of millions of dollars from the state's Third Frontier program. Hopefully, the Akron-led initiative will add to that total.