Four Key Areas Combine to Form Biomedical Center of Excellence at UC

CINCINNATI—In the second of what will be five rounds of naming Ohio Centers of Excellence, Governor Ted Strickland and Chancellor Eric Fingerhut have now announced the Biomedicine and Health Care Centers of Excellence. The University of Cincinnati’s "Transforming Health Care in the 21st Century” is among them.

Ohio’s Centers of Excellence program is an effort designed to align the state’s universities with targeted industries and to keep talent in Ohio.

UC’s biomedicine and health care center is driven by four areas of focus, all with the goal of delivering the highest quality clinical care through advancements in translational research. UC’s areas of focus are:

• Neurosciences—UC is the dominant regional provider of clinical neurology, neurosurgery and psychiatry for both adults and children. These core services are augmented by related subspecialty care in neuroradiology, otolaryngology and physical medicine rehabilitation. Programs in stroke, bipolar disorder imaging, substance abuse disorders, neuroendocrinology, epilepsy, neurosurgery, movement disorders, neurotrauma and multiple sclerosis make up UC’s neurosciences program, which focuses on the translation of key discoveries into new clinical approaches to disease management and treatment.
  
  
• Environmental Health and Cancer—UC boasts a university-wide interdisciplinary initiative in environmental health and cancer and is home to one of the oldest and most successful environment health enterprises in the nation. Work focuses on increasing the understanding of the environment and its impact on cancer risk and progression, with a principal mission of reduce the overall health care costs and economic and human life burdens associated with environmental pollution in the state and nation.
  
  
• Pediatrics—The Department of Pediatrics in UC’s College of Medicine, housed at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center—one of the top children’s hospitals in the nation—helps drive excellence across all scientific and medical disciplines. The department and Cincinnati Children’s are No. 2 in the nation for receiving National Institutes of Health funding for pediatric hospitals. This has a tremendous impact on the regional and state economy by bringing dollars into the state, helping to grow a highly professional workforce in the region and ensuring that quality health care is delivered to Ohio’s children.
  
  
• Diabetes and Obesity—Metabolic diseases, like diabetes and obesity, require multidisciplinary comprehensive care and prevention because these disorders impact almost every major organ system and lead to morbidity and mortality due to secondary complications. UC is already home to one of the top obesity research teams in the country and is strategically expanding core programs in type 1 and type 2 diabetes in children and adults, complications of diabetes and obesity, genetic and environmental risk factors, bariatric surgery, nutrition and gestational diabetes.

For Additional Information:
Ohio’s 10-year Strategic Plan for Higher Education