Night Read (Ohio): Ohio State University research draws interest

News and notes from the day in MedCity, Ohio:

Ohio State Universityspent $703 million on research and development in fiscal 2008, making it the 10th-largest research college in the country and seventh-largest among public universities, according to the National Science Foundation, the Columbus Dispatch reported.

A group of Ohio Stateresearchers have handed over anonymity to become part of COSI’s Labs in Life, according to theDispatch. Their research focuses on exercise and nutrition and, on a recent Sunday afternoon,visitorsfrom toddlers to seniorswere drawn to the glass-encased labs inhabited by scientists, student interns and their subjects.

Reversing a protein deficiency through gene therapy can correct motor function, restore nerve signals and improve survival in mice that serve as a model for the lethal childhood disorder spinal muscular atrophy, new Ohio State and Nationwide Children’s Hospital research shows.

The long-promised payoff of electronic medical records, such as making doctors appointments, viewing test results and filling prescriptions online, finally is turning into reality for patients, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer.

Southwest General Health Centerin Middleburg Heights broke ground Monday on construction of an 8,000-square-foot addition at its Brunswick Medical Center, according to a release. The addition will include an emergency room.

Although hospital employment was previously expected to grow 13.4 percent by 2016, almost half of Ohio hospitals alreadyhaveenacted layoffs, and two-thirds are leaving vacancies unfulfilled due in part to the state budget hospital tax, according to the February issue of the Ohio Hospital Association’sHealthBeat.

In 1949,Gloria Rookard had the grades to get into nursing school, but apparently the wrong skin color, according to WKYC-TV. The African American woman who learned nursing skills at Akron GeneralMedical Centershe started her own business 28 years ago — Universal Nursing Services.

The Cleveland Clinic and the Cleveland Cavaliersbasketball teamwill collaborate for Colon Cancer Awareness Month throughout March with an awareness and prevention campaign –Score Against Colon Cancer, according to a Clinic release. The campaign is offeringa free colon cancer risk assessment that provides guidance for prevention.

The annual “Power of Love” charity gala raised $27 million this weekend for the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in Las Vegas, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

Cleveland radio veteran Carl E. Hirsch, who co-founded NextMedia Group, has given $1 million to the Cleveland Clinic Florida Health and Wellness Center in West Palm Beach, according to the South Florida Business Journal.

How Dr. Wayne Polldreamed big in Ohio,from theWall Street Journal — a snapshot of Minimally Invasive Devices in Columbus, according to the TechLife Columbus blog.

Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus recently was accepted into the CIGNA LifeSOURCE Transplant Network, becoming the first Center of Excellencefor Pediatric Heart Transplant designated by the network inOhio and one of 25 centers nationwide, according to a release.