Taft Opens World-Class Genome Research Institute
COLUMBUS, OHIO (October 6, 2003) - Governor Bob Taft today officially opened the state-of-the-art Genome Research Institute (GRI) at the University of Cincinnati, and thanked collaborators for their $76 million investment in Hamilton County, creating 450 new, high-paying jobs by the end of 2003.
"The Genome Research Institute is a prime example of the kind of projects we want to support and grow through our Third Frontier Project," said Taft. "Job creation, business innovation, keeping our best and brightest close to home and improving the lives of our citizens are goals of the Third Frontier Project, and we are a proud partner of the GRI which is successfully making the Third Frontier vision a reality."
The GRI is already creating high-paying jobs for Ohioans like Jenny Barger, a Wright State graduate who works for Acero, one of the Institute's partners, and attracting world-class talent like Professor George Thomas. Through the use of cutting-edge biomedicine, the GRI is transforming the lives of people like Lois Vicars, a Type-1 diabetic who no longer needs to take insulin after an islet cell transplant. All three spoke at today's event.
Taft commended Procter and Gamble Pharmaceuticals, Wright State University, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Research Foundations, Acero Inc., and Wright Patterson Air Force Base for their collaboration on the project. The GRI received a $9 million Biomedical Research and Technology Transfer Partnership Award from the state in 2002. Aventis Pharmaceuticals donated the laboratory complex to UC.
The GRI, led by Dr. David Millhorn, seeks to improve medical care through genetic medicine and is specifically focused on the role of genetics in obesity and diabetes; the role of genetics in lipids and vascular health; and recruiting young researchers for cancer research. The GRI will also offer a unique interdisciplinary graduate program.
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. It is the state's largest-ever economic development investment and has received bi-partisan support from the Ohio Legislature. 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 attract top research talent to Ohio institutions, help with the development and commercialization of new products and create new good jobs for Ohioans.
