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Op-Ed that appeared in the November 28, 2005 issue of The Plain Dealer
Scientific research is the oil that enables what is believed to become; it's the lubricant that helps scientists build upon existing knowledge and test new ideas - ideas that can lead to great discoveries that benefit people worldwide.
You might therefore expect that we in the education and scientific research communities have gotten pretty good at precisely measuring progress. In many diverse areas, it is a significant part of what we do.
But until a few years ago, educators and scientists hadn't thought much about something that should have been obvious to us: We didn't understand the extent to which scientific research is a vital part of our economy in Northeast Ohio, and how much more it can contribute to the future well-being of us all.
Worse, we knew little about how to make our research work better. We didn't appreciate how quality higher education, the basic scientific research that springs from it and the eventual transfer of knowledge from college classrooms through laboratories to startup businesses really represent a continuum, rather than separate processes performed by disparate groups of people working for a bunch of organizations that usually didn't talk to each other. But we've learned a lot.
We know the research being conducted in Northeast Ohio is truly world class. As my colleague Lee Bollinger, the president of Columbia University, once said: "Good research doesn't stimulate economic development - only great research does." We are doing great research here, but even that is not enough. We can do more, and we want to. We must tell many more people about what we've learned - about how and why attracting more research grants can provide a firm foundation to grow a better economy, attract new businesses along with the capital and the people that come with them, create new jobs and improve the quality of life in our region and state.
In 2004, Case research expenditures totaled $231.8 million. When we calculate the research spending by Case, the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, University Hospitals, the NASA Glenn Research Center, Cleveland State and Kent State universities, the University of Akron and other institutions, the total is $901.5 million. I want to call on all of Northeast Ohio's research institutions to establish the billion-dollar mark as our goal for next year and, more importantly, to sustain it at that level annually.
Last year alone, Ohio's top three research universities - Case, Ohio State University and the University of Cincinnati - directly and indirectly accounted for 68,000 jobs in Ohio and contributed $6.3 billion in economic activity statewide. For the last several months, Case, OSU and UC have been precisely measuring our collective statewide economic impact. Our entire state should see the final numbers in what will be a very comprehensive report before the end of this year.
Specifically benefiting Northeast Ohio, the BioEnterprise Initiative is a business-formation, recruitment and acceleration initiative designed to grow health care companies and commercialize bioscience technologies. Its founders and partners are Case, the University Hospitals Health System, the Cleveland Clinic and Summa Health System. Since July 2002, the BioEnterprise has created, recruited, and/or accelerated more than 45 companies that have attracted more than $165 million in new funding, most of it flowing into the region from outside, as does most all funding in scientific research received in Northeast Ohio.
BioEnterprise cites more than $40 million in revenues collected by technology offices and more than 125 technology-transfer deals.
Since the doors first opened four short years ago at Case's Technology Transfer Office, headed by Mark Coticchia, Case's vice president for research and technology management, we have "home-grown" 12 early stage companies. And though companies such as Arteriocyte Inc., Interventional Imaging Inc. and Cleveland Nanocrystals Inc. are not yet household names, they have attracted significant investment from outside the region, spent a combined $45 million and enhanced the region's reputation among scientists and investors around the country.
Another exciting example of transformational research at Case is the development of more efficient and affordable fuel-cell technologies. More than a century ago, the Age of Petroleum was born in our region. It is our mission to ensure that Northeast Ohio is a major player in making the Hydrogen Age the next reality.
The businesses Case has helped to grow are small, but they all are doing exciting and critically important work that has enhanced our region's reputation in the scientific and investment communities.
Not all university research startups will succeed, but many are and will, and as they grow into bigger businesses, they will attract significant new capital, create a growing number of jobs and, in doing so, become even more valuable to Ohio's economy.
It is far from easy to transform a region whose economy was built on iron, steel, coal, petroleum and farming. Passage of state Issue 1 this month is a good step, though. Not only will it provide increased funding for scientific research through the Third Frontier Initiative, it will also build roads, bridges and other critical elements of infrastructure - all of which will make Ohio more attractive to large and small companies.
As researchers across our region continue to practice some of the best science in the world, we will develop an even better understanding of the economic impact of their efforts, which will help all of us better coordinate our attempts to bring more research dollars into Ohio.
Research is not done just for its own sake. Companies, foundations and the public sector must work together to support our efforts to bring more research funding to our region. We're almost at the tipping point: $1 billion in annual research funding. But we won't get there without a concerted campaign. Scientific research benefits us all, and this is a very good thing for all who live, work and raise families in Northeast Ohio.
Hundert is president of Case Western Reserve University.
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