Funding Awards - August 2005
Osteopathic Medical Research

Osteopathic Heritage Foundation awards nearly $11.5 million to Ohio University for medical research and medical education

The Osteopathic Heritage Foundation approved $11,461,289 for four research-related initiatives in support of osteopathic medical research and education at Ohio University. The majority of the funding is for a research center, while other awards enable the Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine to establish a research office for the Centers for Osteopathic Research and Education, conduct interdisciplinary neuromusculoskeletal research, and develop the infrastructure for diabetes education research and physician training:

• Multi-disciplinary research center - A $10 million Foundation gift to the university provides one-third of the funding needed to design, construct and equip an integrated research facility on the Athens campus. In keeping with Ohio University's establishment of biotechnology research and education as priorities, the research facility will bring together multi-disciplinary teams of researchers from the College of Osteopathic Medicine, the Fritz J. and Dolores H. Russ College of Engineering & Technology, the College of Health & Human Services and the College of Arts & Sciences to collaboratively develop new methods of medical diagnosis and treatment.
  
  "The ultimate goal of the integrated research facility is to improve health and quality of life of the community-at-large, and specifically Appalachian Ohio, by focusing research efforts on diseases endemic to the region," said Rick Vincent, Foundation president. "Additional beneficiaries include the medical, engineering and other students and their faculty mentors."
• Centers for Osteopathic Research and Education - The Centers for Osteopathic Research and Education consortium includes nearly 400 osteopathic medical students and 500 post-graduate physicians at Ohio University and 11 Ohio hospital training sites. The Foundation's $777,618, five-year grant will fund research administrators and biostatisticians at a central office and four regional centers to increase osteopathic students' and physicians' skills and interests in conducting clinical research that can lead to improved methods of diagnosing and treating patients. The staff will provide support and instruction to design studies, improve the quality of research conducted and coordinate multi-site clinical trials.
  
  The first post-graduate research site developed will be at Doctors Hospital in Columbus.
• Neuromusculoskeletal research - A $397,421 award over five years will help provide faculty and staff for Ohio University's Institute for Neuromusculoskeletal Research, promoting interdisciplinary research into the musculoskeletal system and its neural control. This research capitalizes on the traditional strengths of osteopathic musculoskeletal medicine and will encourage physicians at osteopathic medical colleges to collaborate on studies determining the efficacy of osteopathic manipulative medicine as an adjunctive and complementary treatment.
  
  "The osteopathic profession has an opportunity to enhance its impact on healthcare as well as strengthen its leadership in manual medicine through research into neuromusculoskeletal systems," Vincent said. "The Osteopathic Heritage Foundation is proud to play a role in advancing osteopathic medicine and the quality of healthcare."
• Diabetes fellowship and research - A $286,250 five-year award enables the College of Medicine to develop the nation's first diabetes fellowship for primary care physicians -- a one-year program to train primary care osteopathic family practitioners, internists and pediatricians as specialists in diabetes. The fellowship also includes a two-year program with a research component to train osteopathic clinical faculty and physician researchers.
  
  "With one in three Americans born in the year 2000 predicted to develop diabetes, it is essential that primary care physicians are prepared to manage this disease," Vincent explained. "This advanced training will improve the quality of patient care in southeast Ohio and add to the College of Medicine's regional and national recognition as a leader in diabetes research and care."