The State of Ohio led by the Ohio Board of Regents, and the Ohio Academic Resources Network (OARnet) is going to invest $8.1 million in equipment for the state’s current broadband network. By doing this, the speed of the state’s current bandwidth of 10 Gigabits per second (Gbps) will increase to 100 Gbps and will connect to Internet2’s international 100 Gbps network backbone.
Both Ohio public and private partners will also invest $2.3 million in a state-of-the-art innovation center to enable the testing of 100 Gbps technologies and to promote the development of compelling broadband, software, and advanced technology applications. The Center will collaborate with Internet2, NSF’s Future Internet Infrastructure, UC Berkeley, and other national laboratories.
Ohio’s Third Frontier Program a $1.6 billion program invests in target innovation and technology to help develop industry clusters in targeted high tech sectors such as biomedical imaging and advanced materials.
For example, the “Biomedical Informatics System Platform” created with Third Frontier funding is developing a computational platform to unify bioinformatics, experimental, and clinical data to accelerate advances in medicine to produce a stream of commercial products. This research is being accomplished by combining the capabilities of Ohio State, the Ohio Supercomputer Center, and the capabilities of Rescentris, an Ohio-based company.
The Wright Center of Innovation in biomedical Imaging recently received a follow-on Third Frontier award to expand their capabilities in molecular imaging, particularly in the development of novel radiopharmaceutical agents. Key partners include Cardinal Health, Philips Medical Systems, Rexon Components, Nationwide Children’s Hospital and Case Western Reserve University.
Arteriocyte, a commercial biotechnology company has teamed up with Ohio State, Cleveland Clinic, the University of Toledo, Case Western Reserve University, and University Hospitals Case Medical Center to deploy stem cell-based technologies to improve outcomes in cardiovascular disease and for other conditions. The funding is coming from the Third Frontier Research Commercialization Program.
Arteriocyte plans to broaden its medical device platform by developing a rapid bedside stem cell and platelet concentration technology. Additional research expertise for this project is coming from Johns Hopkins University, Harvard Medical School, Tufts University, and the University of Utah.
In another development, the Austen Bioinnovation Institute in Akron (ABIA) has formed APTO Orthopedics, the first medical device company created out of the Institute. The company’s first device is designed to improve the care of children with spinal deformities by eliminating the need for repetitive, painful, and costly surgeries.
APTO is collaborating with ABIA and researchers at the University of Akron and Northeast Ohio Medical University to develop the device so that once the device is implanted, it can be adjusted from outside the body, thereby eliminating the need for repetitive invasive surgeries.
