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RESEARCH OREGON 2006: OREGON HEALTH & SCIENCE UNIVERSITY

Win the race. Lead the way. Never quit. Because that’s what it takes to change the world.

Every day, hundreds of scientists at Oregon Health & Science University pursue an extraordinary goal. They are not simply working on the leading edge of knowledge. Rather, they are dedicated to creating the leading edge of knowledge. Moving science forward.

Changing the boundaries. Finding new treatments. And bringing cures closer for people across Oregon and beyond.

As Oregon’s only health and research university, OHSU leads the way in developing new knowledge and putting it to work. Nowhere else in Oregon is the scope of the research so broad — or so important to so many. For example:

• Researchers and doctors at the OHSU Chest Pain Center have completely transformed the treatment of unexplained chest pain, using microbubble technology to look directly at the heart. This revolutionary technology was first developed by the chief of the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine in the School of Medicine.
• Researchers at the OHSU Cancer Institute have developed a new, faster way to find molecular mutations that cause normal cells to turn into cancerous ones — so that each patient’s cancer treatment can be tailored to his or her specific needs.
• Researchers at the OHSU School of Medicine have pioneered the use of tiny electric pulses to help stroke patients regain certain motor functions.

In all of these cases, and hundreds more, OHSU scientists quickly translate basic research from the lab to the lives of the people they serve. This ability to create new knowledge — and then apply it in a way that makes a difference — is what sets OHSU apart. Put simply, it is the ability to create hope.

UNDERSTANDING THE BRAIN

This year — to continue expanding the boundaries of knowledge — the university formed the OHSU Brain Institute, bringing together a wide variety of research and clinical care programs. The new institute will enhance OHSU’s ability to take basic discoveries and rapidly transform them into new treatments.

In 2004, OHSU ranked first in the number of neuroscience projects funded by the National Institutes of Health, and No. 2 in the country, behind the University of California, San Diego, in the amount of NIH money received for the neurosciences. OHSU is also the only academic health center in the country with a fully integrated school of science and engineering — the OGI School of Science & Engineering. The school is taking the lead on a range of groundbreaking projects, including a major regional collaboration of researchers working in ocean observation and prediction. The kinds of discoveries that stem from the synergies of health and engineering clearly have the potential to change the world.

A NATIONAL REPUTATION

The strength of OHSU’s program is reflected in its standing with the National Institutes of Health, the single largest supporter of university research in the country.

In 2005 OHSU School of Medicine ranked No. 24 in the country, two slots ahead of Harvard Medical School. The school garnered $175.4 million in grant funding from NIH in that year, which made up 63% of NIH’s funding to institutions across Oregon.

OHSU’s research funding from all sources in 2006 exceeded $294 million, a more than 7% increase over the previous year.

OHSU: Currently conducts more than 3,500 research projects. Is Portland’s largest employer (excluding government). Fuels $2.7 billion in regional economic activity each year. Returns more than $39 million to the state each year through employee income taxes and payroll taxes. Has helped start 30 spinoff companies since 2000, most of which are based in Oregon.

THE OREGON OPPORTUNITY

The university also continues to gain more top-tier scientists. Eighty new researchers have been recruited as part of the Oregon Opportunity so far, with another 19 to be recruited. They come from prestigious institutions such as Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Stanford University and Johns Hopkins University, to name a few.

The Oregon Opportunity — which brought together private donors and a voter-approved, one-time investment to fund research growth — bore further fruit with the completion and opening of the OHSU Biomedical Research Building. The BRB will be a center of translational research — where discoveries move from bench to bedside — and one more way that OHSU is supporting the emerging bioscience industry in Oregon.

Indeed, OHSU breakthroughs not only create new knowledge — they also create new companies, which in turn attract out-of-state funding of their own. Last year, five OHSU spinoff companies received morethan $3 million in National Institutes of Health funding. Knowledge is the thread that weaves all of this work together. It is central to OHSU’s mission of improving the lives of Oregonians.  At OHSU, scientists help to turn knowledge into action to open new doors, to find new cures, to provide new opportunities.  And to change the world.


Change can’t happen if we see things just one way.  That’s why diversity is important to who we are.  We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer.

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