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Cincinnati Children's Moves Up to Second in Nation In NIH Funding Among Pediatric Institutions

Thursday, September 07, 2006

Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center now ranks second in the nation among all pediatric medical centers in research funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). 

For federal fiscal year 2005, Cincinnati Children's received $83.1 million in NIH grants. Cincinnati Children's also ranks 70th among more than 3,400 pediatric and adult institutions nationally.

"Cincinnati Children's leadership position in pediatric research means that we also will be leaders in clinical innovation," says Thomas Boat, MD, chairman of pediatrics at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and director of the Cincinnati Children's Research Foundation. "Ultimately, the result of research is better health for children -- not only in our community but throughout the world."

Among the reasons Dr. Boat cites for Cincinnati Children's lofty research rank are:

• Strong research leadership at the institutional and division levels
• Core research resources that enhance access to cutting-edge technology and data analysis for a wide variety of projects
• "Unwavering" institutional support
• Internal start-up grants

In addition to proving better health for children, research funding enhances the economic impact on Cincinnati and the state of Ohio through higher levels of employment and new biomedical company formation. For example, technologies owned by Cincinnati Children's in this fiscal year will form the basis of three start-up companies, all of them located in Cincinnati.

The Cincinnati Children's Research Foundation was founded in 1931. Its scientists have been responsible for such breakthrough discoveries as the Sabin oral polio vaccine, the first practical heart-lung machine that made open heart surgery possible, and the discovery of key ingredients of the surfactant preparation used throughout the world to save the lives of thousands of premature infants each year.

More recently, Cincinnati Children's researchers were responsible for the discovery and testing of a vaccine that prevents rotavirus infection, which kills half a million children throughout the world each year. The vaccine, now known as Rotarix and licensed to GSK, was discovered and tested by David Bernstein, MD, director of infectious diseases at Cincinnati Children's, and Richard Ward, PhD, a scientist in infectious diseases. Rotarix has been licensed in the EU, 15 Latin American Countries and 29 other countries around the world.

Cincinnati Children's is currently constructing a new research facility that will provide the lab and office space needed to expand the research programs and recruit new clinical faculty. The research building will be designed to foster collaboration among various scientific disciplines. Groups will be clustered geographically by broad, overlapping interests and themes rather than by academic department or division.

For example, researchers from the divisions of immunology and molecular immunology will share space with scientists from hematology / oncology, allergy, rheumatology and other divisions who study the immune system or whose diseases have an important immune component. In the past, divisions and departments would reside in self-contained "silos."

When the building is completed in 2007, Cincinnati Children's will have 937,000 square feet of research space. It is believed that Cincinnati Children's will have more research space when the new building opens than any other pediatric medical center in the nation.

Cincinnati Children's is a 475-bed institution devoted to bringing the world the joy of healthier kids. Cincinnati Children's is dedicated to transforming the way health care is delivered by providing care that is timely, efficient, effective, family-centered, equitable and safe. Cincinnati Children's ranks second nationally among all pediatric centers in research grants from the National Institutes of Health. It is a teaching affiliate of the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. The Cincinnati Children's vision is to be the leader in improving child health.