Medical Center Names Director for
New Genome Research Institute

Internationally distinguished biomedical researcher David Millhorn, PhD, has been selected to head the new University of Cincinnati Genome Research Institute at the university's recently acquired laboratory complex in Reading, Ohio. Millhorn is chairman of the Department of Molecular and Cellular Physiology at the UC College of Medicine, a position he has held since 1994, when he was recruited from the University of North Carolina.

"We are extremely pleased that David will be the director of the new Genome Research Institute," said John Hutton, MD, dean of the UC College of Medicine. "David is a world renowned scientist himself, and he has built a highly successful department of basic researchers here at UC. Under his leadership, eminent scientists have been recruited, and the department's research grant holdings have doubled in just five years. David will continue as chairman of the Department of Molecular and Cell Physiology at UC, and his faculty will be among the first researchers to move to the new institute."

The new genome institute will be located in facilities donated to the university by Aventis Pharmaceuticals. The property at Cross County Highway and Galbraith Road consists of 360,000 square feet of laboratories and office space on 23 acres of land. This donation is the single largest gift in the University of Cincinnati's history.

"I am very excited about the possibilities surrounding the development of the Genome Research Institute as a world-class research facility," Millhorn said. "This is an opportunity for the university to bring together groups of highly qualified investigators to research significantly important areas and develop a biomedical presence in Cincinnati and the Tristate that will be competitive nationally."

The research facility north of the university's main campus will provide much-needed research space for groups of scientists from UC and Children's Hospital Medical Center. The initial core of researchers will come from Millhorn's Department of Molecular and Cell Physiology, which is ranked in the top 15-20 percent among academic medical centers nationwide. The department's faculty are funded mainly by grants from the National Institutes of Health, and their basic research is applicable to understanding, preventing and treating a wide range of diseases including cancer, stroke, heart disease, neurological diseases and nervous system injury, hypertension, cystic fibrosis, osteoporosis, kidney disease and diabetes.

"A major underlying theme of the department's research is to use genetic and molecular information to understand normal and abnormal cell and organ function," Millhorn said. "This will be a primary theme for research at the new Genome Research Institute."

According to Millhorn, researchers at the genome institute will be using information from the Human Genome Project and applying technology such as genomics and proteomics to study complex physiological traits as well as disease processes. Millhorn envisions the institute having focus areas in cancer biology, neuroscience, endocrinology and development, diabetes and cardiovascular/ pulmonary as well as other areas in which new genomic approaches can be utilized to gain a better understanding of disease processes.

"The types of research I hope to have at the institute are areas of importance for the health of our community as well as the nation," Millhorn said.

As an extension of the university campus, Millhorn expects all types of biotechnology-related researchers within the university to inhabit the premises of the institute. Recruitment efforts are underway to attract leading investigators to the new institute, and Millhorn expects new researchers to be at UC by next spring.

"For the first five years, our mission is to start with a core of investigators already at UC and then add to that by recruiting world-class researchers to the UC institute," Millhorn said. "By the end of the first five years, we hope to have a group of 40-50 principle investigators and their staffs at the institute. That translates into about 250 individuals involved in research programs."

Millhorn is on numerous national and international panels and advisory committees and his research has led to important discoveries concerning genomic and molecular mechanisms that regulate cell survival and function during hypoxia (reduced oxygen). Hypoxia occurs in a number of life-threatening conditions such as stroke and heart attack and it plays a major role in tumor growth. Millhorn's research will help develop new treatment strategies to minimize cell injury and death during these conditions and help prevent tumors.

Millhorn has published over 200 research papers and is currently the principal investigator on six federal research grants which include a MERIT award from the National Heart, Blood and Lung Institute, a Genomics Center grant and a grant from the U.S. Department of Defense.

Millhorn plans to recruit scientists to the Genome Research Institute who develop basic science laboratories that are highly successful in competing for federal funding for research. The plans also include recruiting individuals who might also be interested in commercial outcomes of their research such as the development of new biotechnology companies.

UC's Millennium Research Plan is to double outside funding for biomedical research and add 260 new researchers and their staffs by 2006. This translates into about 1,500 new jobs in the region.

"The gift from Aventis gives the university a head start on our Millennium Plan by providing state-of-the-art research facilities that can be used almost immediately," said Donald C. Harrison, MD, senior vice president and provost for health affairs at UC. "Without the gift it would have cost UC more than $100 million and required two or three years to build such a large, modern research center. With David Millhorn leading the new Genome Institute, UC is poised to become one of the top biomedical research centers in the country."

"The new research institute is a cornerstone to expanding biotechnology business development in Cincinnati and Ohio," said UC President Joseph Steger. "The UC Medical Center is a major economic driver in Greater Cincinnati, and the Genome Research Institute will create high paying jobs, attract outside funding and fuel the growth of a biotechnology center in the region. In addition, facilitating the development of new biotechnology companies would create a biotechnology presence in this part of the state and mean new jobs and expanded economic development for the region," Steger said.

Another important goal for the institute is to have close relationships and interactions with the private sector. This will enhance the role the university plays in the new biological revolution that is taking place as a result of the Human Genome Project.