Kent State University and Cleveland Clinic’s Lerner Research Institute Collaborate on Research Funding

Kent State University and Cleveland Clinic’s Lerner Research Institute will co-fund two pilot research projects as part of an initiative to enhance collaborations between the two institutions. Following a competitive review process, two teams comprising researchers from each institution will receive $100,000 each for collaborative research that will lead to co-submission of grant proposals to federal and nonfederal agencies.

“These pilot funding awards are the result of a Kent State University – Lerner Research Institute initiative that started in 2012,” said Grant McGimpsey, Ph.D., vice president for research at Kent State. “Our goal is to accelerate research partnerships and funding opportunities in biomedical science by leveraging expertise at both institutions.”

“As federal research funding becomes increasingly competitive, collaborations are the key to advancing research discoveries,” said Paul E. DiCorleto, Ph.D., Lerner Research Institute chair. “By pooling expertise from several disciplines, we will tackle important research questions from every possible angle.” 

George Muschler, M.D., of Cleveland Clinic’s Lerner Research Institute’s Department of Biomedical Engineering, Christopher Malcuit, Ph.D., from Kent State’s Department of Biological Sciences, and Malcolm C. Moos, M.D., Ph.D., from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Division of Cellular and Gene Therapies, will collaborate on a study titled “Predictors of Biological Potency of Human Connective Tissue Progenitors (CTPs) – Application to Rapid Processing Methods for Progenitor Cell Isolation and Purification.”

With this project, the researchers seek to advance the field of connective tissue progenitor cell (CTP) biology and the role of regenerating injured or diseased tissues. Specifically, they intend to develop rapid in vitro methods for identifying and characterizing CTPs with desired biological potential (for example, the ability to differentiate into bone-forming cells). The methods will enable rapid targeted selection and isolation of CTPs for both research and therapeutic applications.

Wen-Hai Chou, Ph.D., and Derek Damron, Ph.D., both from Kent State’s Department of Biological Sciences, and Keith McCrae, M.D., of Lerner Research Institute’s Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine and the Taussig Cancer Institute, will study the pathogenesis of stroke, with the goal of developing novel treatment interventions.

Their project, titled “Prevention of Reperfusion Injury in Ischemic Stroke: Role of High Molecular Weight Kininogen and PKC Delta,” will combine the strengths of McCrae in vascular biology and biochemistry, Damron in calcium signaling, and Chou in protein kinase C biology and mouse stroke models.

Kent State has internationally recognized researchers in several areas of biology and biomedicine, including neurobiology and cell and molecular biology. Lerner Research Institute is home to all laboratory, translational and clinical research at Cleveland Clinic, a top 4 U.S. hospital.

Kent State and Cleveland Clinic’s Lerner Research Institute maintain a cooperative graduate training program leading to a doctoral degree in biomedical sciences. Together, both institutions offer world-class facilities to support the most modern training opportunities for students interested in biomedical research careers.

About Kent State University
Kent State University is Northeast Ohio’s leading public research university with more than 42,000 students. The university’s eight-campus system is among the largest regional systems in the country. Today, Kent State has become an engine for economic, cultural and workforce development – locally and internationally – as one of the premier Ohio universities. The university is ranked among the nation’s 77 public research universities demonstrating high-research activity by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. For more information about Kent State, visit www.kent.edu.

About Cleveland Clinic
Cleveland Clinic is a nonprofit multispecialty academic medical center that integrates clinical and hospital care with research and education. Located in Cleveland, Ohio, it was founded in 1921 by four renowned physicians with a vision of providing outstanding patient care based upon the principles of cooperation, compassion and innovation. Cleveland Clinic has pioneered many medical breakthroughs, including coronary artery bypass surgery and the first face transplant in the United States. U.S. News & World Report consistently names Cleveland Clinic as one of the nation’s best hospitals in its annual “America’s Best Hospitals” survey. More than 3,000 full-time salaried physicians and researchers and 11,000 nurses represent 120 medical specialties and subspecialties. The Cleveland Clinic health system includes a main campus near downtown Cleveland, more than 75 Northern Ohio outpatient locations, including 16 full-service Family Health Centers, Cleveland Clinic Florida, the Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in Las Vegas, Cleveland Clinic Canada, and, currently under construction, Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi. In 2012, there were 5.1 million outpatient visits throughout the Cleveland Clinic health system and 157,000 hospital admissions. Patients came for treatment from every state and from more than 130 countries. Visit us at www.clevelandclinic.org. Follow us at www.twitter.com/ClevelandClinic.

About Lerner Research Institute
Lerner Research Institute (LRI) is home to Cleveland Clinic’s laboratory, translational and clinical research. Its mission is to promote human health by investigating in the laboratory and the clinic the causes of disease and discovering novel approaches to prevention and treatments; to train the next generation of biomedical researchers; and to foster productive collaborations with those providing clinical care. In 2012, LRI researchers published more than 600 articles in high-impact biomedical journals (top 10 percent of all biomedical journals). The total annual research expenditure was $255 million in 2012 (with nearly $110 million in competitive federal funding). More than 2,000 people (including approximately 180 principal investigators, 210 postdoctoral fellows and about 170 graduate students) in 13 departments work in research programs focusing on cardiovascular, cancer, neurologic, musculoskeletal, allergic and immunologic, eye, metabolic and infectious diseases. LRI has more than 700,000 square feet of lab, office and Core Services space. LRI faculty oversee the curriculum and teach students enrolled in the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University – training the next generation of physician-scientists. Institute faculty also participate in multiple doctoral programs, including the Molecular Medicine PhD Program supported in part by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. LRI is a significant source of commercial property, generating 83 invention disclosures, 10 new licenses and 35 patents in 2012. Visit us at www.lerner.ccf.org.

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Media Contacts:
Michael Bloom, mbloom11@kent.edu, 330-672-0732
Emily Vincent, evincen2@kent.edu, 330-672-8595