Taft Announces Grant to Treat and Prevent Lung Cancer
COLUMBUS, OHIO (October 29, 2003) - Governor Bob Taft today announced that The Ohio State University Medical Center, Battelle Memorial Institute, and Siemens Medical Solutions will receive an $8 million Third Frontier award to establish a program for the prevention, detection and treatment of lung cancer. This project is expected to create 1,100 new jobs in 10 years.
"Projects like this one are the heart of the Third Frontier Project," Taft said. "We are using biomedical research to improve lives and give hope to people living with cancer. And we are creating jobs that will enable our kids and grandkids to stay in Ohio close to home - keeping Ohio families together."
The State of Ohio ranks 4th in the nation in the incidence of smoking. Tobacco-related illnesses cost Ohio approximately $5 billion a year. Seventy percent of smokers are diagnosed with lung cancer in its late stage.
"The applicants make a convincing case for the potential to develop novel products and new companies based on the science in this program, in part because early detection methods in lung cancer would be in high demand," noted reviewers with the National Academy of Sciences.
The National Academy of Sciences, considered the nation's most prestigious organization of scientists, engineers, and medical researchers, assembled a team of Academy members and other distinguished scientists and businesspeople that evaluated proposals for funding. This expert, independent evaluation recommended proposals that offer the most potential for creating jobs and investment in Ohio.
Taft today also announced a $6.4 million award to The Cleveland Clinic Foundation to create the Brain Neuromodulation Center to commercialize products that will restore the quality of life for people with Parkinson's disease and other neurological disorders. He also announced $25.2 million in awards to the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and partners for a computational medicine project that is expected to create 500 new jobs and five brand new companies. In all, Taft today announced a total of 1,875 new jobs for Ohio to be created through Third Frontier funding.
The Third Frontier Project is Taft's $1.6 billion job creation program to expand Ohio's high-tech research capabilities and promote start-up companies to create high-paying jobs. The final part of the Third Frontier Project, a $500 million bond program up for voter approval in November, would allow the state to allocate $50 million annually over the next 10 years to create new, high-paying jobs for Ohioans and transform Ohio's economy.
