Centers of Economic Excellence
June 2009 Program Update
Three new Centers of Economic Excellence Approved
The CoEE Review Board awarded funds to three new Centers of Economic Excellence earlier this month:
The Lipodomics, Pathobiology and Therapy CoEE at MUSC takes advantage of MUSC’s strength in the area of lipidomics, which involves the study of lipids within biological systems. Lipids, along with carbohydrates and proteins, are one of the principle components of living cells and include fats, waxes, and similar compounds. The center was awarded $5 million.
Two MUSC endowed chairs will lead the CoEE, one focusing on lipidomics and pathobiology and the other focusing on lipidomics and drug discovery. These endowed chairs will help translate the basic lipidomics research occurring at MUSC into an understanding of how lipids play a role in health problems such as cancer, inflammation, and diabetes. Researchers will then use that understanding to identify new targets for diagnostics or treatments for these illnesses.
The Nuclear Science Strategies CoEE at USC will develop new project management techniques for nuclear plant operators with the goal of reducing the time and cost to bring a nuclear plant online. It will also support technological improvements, including using nuclear power as a heat source to generate alternative fuels such as hydrogen. The center was awarded $3 million.
The one USC endowed chair and associated faculty for this CoEE will work with the South Carolina nuclear industry and the Savannah River National Laboratory to create new engineering and technological innovations and methods of project risk management. These innovations can reduce the cost of building nuclear plants, increase efficiency of new plant construction, enhance the security of nuclear power generation, and address relevant social policy issues.
The Tissue Systems Characterization CoEE at Clemson expands on that university’s expertise in tissue engineering and biomaterials to provide alternatives to animal testing. It will also allow Clemson researchers to further explore new tissue-based technologies that could serve as diagnostic or therapeutic products. The center was awarded $3 million and will have one associated endowed chair.
The convergence of biology and engineering is currently a focus of both industry and governmental funding sources.
Health informatics expert joins CoEE program
 Dr. Rita Snyder, an expert in health care informatics, has been recruited to South Carolina through the Centers of Economic Excellence (CoEE) Program. She will serve as the CoEE Endowed Chair in Health Informatics Quality and Safety Evaluation at the University of South Carolina. Snyder is the third and final appointed endowed chair for the CoEE in Clinical Effectiveness and Patient Safety, which is a collaboration between MUSC and USC.
Snyder's work emphasizes the use of information technology to improve health care quality and safety by reducing medical errors that harm patients. She will focus on the integration and use of such technology in South Carolina's statewide network of medical simulation centers, which involve computerized mannequins that realistically simulate dozens of human functions. The goal of the simulation centers is to provide a low-risk and high-quality educational environment for future clinicians to learn complex and high-risk health care procedures, such as medication administration and central line management. Snyder's research will address the impact of health information technology on clinical decision-making in a simulated environment, and the impact of simulation learning on patient care quality and outcomes in real health care settings.
Snyder is the second woman to be appointed as a CoEE endowed chair.
Annual report details CoEE program's achievements in FY 2008
Even in a sour economy, the CoEE program is having a positive economic impact on the state. Here are a few highlights from the CoEE Review Board’s annual report to the members of the General Assembly and the State Budget and Control Board:
- Research conducted at the Stroke CoEE, a collaborative program between USC and MUSC, has critically reshaped rural stroke care in South Carolina. In May 2008, the REACH network was activated. Doctors at MUSC are now able to treat stroke victims at community hospitals through remote telemedicine. In just a few months at McLeod Health in the state’s Pee Dee region, twice as many stroke patients were treated with a life-changing stroke therapy as compared with the number that had been treated in the full previous year.
- FY 2008 marked a significant year of new partnerships for the Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research (CU-ICAR), which serves as an umbrella for the automotive-related Centers of Economic Excellence. Mazda North American Operations partnered with CU-ICAR by providing graduate fellowships, drive trains, and a Mazda CR 7 Crossover vehicle for testing. Ozen Engineering (California) with its associates CADFEM GMbH (Germany) and EnginSoft SpA (Italy) decided to locate their North American headquarters at CU-ICAR. Automotive software company INTEC, U.S., Inc. also chose CU-ICAR as the site for its United States presence.
- FY 2008 saw the opening of two patient simulation training labs, part of the Clinical Effectiveness and Patient Safety CoEE (MUSC/USC). The centers, in Greenville and Charleston, will train health care personnel around the state so that medical errors are reduced. Each lab is equipped with state-of-the-art computerized mannequins that simulate human reactions, allowing those being trained to improve their techniques without risk to actual patients.
- Through the end of FY 2008, the CoEE program had attracted one quarter billion dollars in non-state investment in the South Carolina economy, including $119.7 million in private and federal funds and $122 million in external research grants.
- Through the end of FY 2008, CoEE-related researchers had filed 110 invention disclosures and 49 U.S. patent applications. In addition, 13 new spin-off companies had been created in the state because of the CoEE program.
To read media coverage of the CoEE program’s FY 2008 successes, follow these links:
SC Biz
Columbia Regional Business Review
A full copy of the FY 2008 annual report is available online at www.sccoee.org.
Hollings Cancer Center at MUSC gets prestigious designation
MUSC’s Hollings Cancer Center has received National Cancer Institute (NCI) designation, awarded to cancer research centers that are major sources of discovery about cancer and its prevention, diagnosis, and therapy. NCI-designated cancer centers offer patients increased access to early clinical trials of new cancer drugs and other treatments that would otherwise be unavailable. There are only 64 NCI cancer centers in the United States; Hollings Cancer Center (HCC) is the only such center in South Carolina.
Dr. Melanie Thomas, an endowed chair for the CoEE in Gastrointestincal Cancer Diagnostics at MUSC, was especially involved in obtaining the NCI designation for HCC. HCC is a research partner in several Centers of Economic Excellence.
HCC received the designation—awarded via a competitive review process—because of its outstanding facilities, commitment to research, leadership, and vision.
The NCI designation comes with more than $7 million in federal funding to grow research programs at MUSC. The NCI distinction also has the potential to boost South Carolina’s economy by attracting public and private funding for new research projects.
There are six Centers of Economic Excellence with a focus on cancer research:
CoEE in Translational Cancer Therapeutics
CoEE in Gastrointestinal Cancer Diagnostics
CoEE in Cancer Drug Discovery
CoEE in Tobacco-related Malignancy
CoEE in Cancer Stem Cell Biology
CoEE in Cancer Disparities
CoEE fuel cell chair wins $12.5 million grant from U.S. Department of Energy
 Dr. Kenneth Reifsnider, a CoEE endowed chair in USC’s Center of Economic Excellence in Solid Oxide Fuel Cells, and his research team recently won a competitive grant worth $12.5 million to conduct energy-related nanotechnology research. The award is one of the largest grants in USC history.
The funds will be used to create an Energy Frontier Research Center at USC. The center will research the ways that materials made from nanoparticles function in different energy applications.
According to Reifsnider, who is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, the research is about how to use energy, how to store it, and how to carry it. Scientists will try to make particles that are very different work together at the nanoscale (less than one-billionth of a meter) level, to improve the efficiency, safety, and portability of fuels. This research could yield discoveries in fields such as electrochemistry, fuel synthesis, and hydrogen storage.
The U.S. Department of Energy plans to fund the Energy Frontier Research Center at a level of $12.5 million. Energy Frontier Research Centers such as this one are being developed to accelerate scientific breakthroughs in energy-related fields such as solar and nuclear energy, electricity storage, biofuels, and carbon capture. Some of these funds will come from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
National Hydrogen Association conference a huge success
Columbia’s first turn as host of the National Hydrogen Association’s (NHA) annual conference was a smashing success, setting a record for the number of public attendees that came to see the latest in hydrogen technology.
The CoEE program is an important asset to South Carolina as the state strives to build an internationally recognized hydrogen hub. The program is helping make South Carolina a leader in clean, renewable alternative energy research, particularly in fuel cell development.
Held March 30 to April 3, the NHA event attracted 2,000 public visitors and more than 700 registered attendees. Participants toured an exhibit hall, where nearly 80 exhibitors showcased innovations including hydrogen-powered video cameras to fuel cells for forklifts. Attendees could also test-drive hydrogen-powered cars from General Motors, Honda, Daimler, and Hyundai, and take a spin on hydrogen-powered Segways like those currently used by the Columbia police department.
Coinciding with the NHA conference, South Carolina’s first two hydrogen fueling stations officially opened: one in Columbia, and the other in Aiken. There are about 70 fueling stations in the U.S.
CoEE has funded three hydrogen-related research centers. All three are housed at the University of South Carolina and are part of the university-wide Future Fuels initiative, which was created to develop new fuels and energy choices that can lessen the world's need for carbon-based fuels. The centers, listed below, provide a place where South Carolina's universities collaborate with industry to advance hydrogen and fuel cells:
The Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Economy CoEE conducts research to develop hydrogen storage materials and sensors for fuel cells.
The Solid Oxide Fuel Cells CoEE focuses on developing fuel cells that can be used in large, high-power systems such as in full-scale industrial and large-scale electricity generating stations.
The Renewable Fuel Cells for the Fuel Cell Economy CoEE is developing catalysts that allow alternative fuels to be produced from renewable sources.
Who we are
The S.C. Centers of Economic Excellence Program was established by the South Carolina General Assembly in 2002, funded through South Carolina Education Lottery proceeds. The legislation authorizes the state's three public research institutions, Medical University of South Carolina, Clemson University, and the University of South Carolina, to use state funds to create Centers of Economic Excellence in research areas that will advance South Carolina's economy. Each Center of Economic Excellence is awarded from $2 million to $5 million in state funds, which must be matched on a dollar-for-dollar basis with non-state funds. The program also supports CoEE endowed chairs, world-renowned scientists who lead the Centers of Economic Excellence. By investing in talent and technology, the CoEE Program is designed to fuel the state's knowledge-based economy, resulting in high-paying jobs and an improved standard of living in South Carolina.
For more information on the CoEE Program, visit www.sccoee.org.
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