Polymer Link - The University of Akron

2 OUTLOOK
Akron’s
bright biofuture
It’s as simple – and as difficult –
as getting all the right people in the same room
Located adjacent to the Polymer
Engineering Academic Center, the
42,750-square-foot facility will house 10
laboratories equipped with state-of-the-art
research instruments and large high bay
area designed especially for the
installation of prototype manufacturing
apparatus for innovation in fabrication
of materials and devices, particularly in
collaboration with industry. These novel
facilities will be used for creating new
knowledge, developing new materials
for solving problems of national interests
in health, energy and environment,
providing platforms for training a skilled
workforce and creating new jobs in the
state of Ohio. Working cooperatively in
this facility, faculty, students and research
partners from polymer and health
industries will generate new knowledge
in the emerging areas of biomaterials
synthesis, biosensors and bio-devices
design, and fabrication of photovoltaic
and membrane materials.
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When veteran orthopedic surgeon Dr. Dennis Weiner talks about Akron’s
BioInnovation Institute, there’s a gleam in his eye and real excitement in his voice.
“I’ll tell you,” he says, “the satisfaction of sitting in a room with people so
different from me, and me so different from them, and we’re all working on a
common research goal – it’s electrifying. It’s a chemical thing that happens
when you put the right people together.”
Weiner is chairman of orthopedic surgery at Akron Children’s Hospital and an enthusiastic
researcher with hundreds of clinical studies to his name. He’s talking about a brave new
world of focused research that brings scientists who can find the big answers together with
the orthopedic clinicians who know the right questions.
With the launch of the BioInnovation Institute in Akron (BIIA) in October of 2008, there’s
now a funded, working plan to bring these essential people together in a single, focused research
effort. Soon, a handpicked team of university and medical school scientists with expertise in
biopolymers, bioengineering and regenerative medicine will be ready to work with the orthopedic
clinicians who have a day-to-day knowledge of the problems that must be overcome.
The results could very well amaze and astonish us all.
Researchers will actively pursue new modalities of treatment, new biopolymer materials to
replace damaged cartilage or bone and new advances in tissue engineering — where polymer
“scaffolds” will support the growth of tendon and bone that would simply not heal otherwise.
With a little luck and a lot of work, these new technologies and materials will spawn new
businesses, new jobs and new prosperity for Akron and Northeast Ohio. In fact, the institute
has already put The University of Akron at the center of an enterprise that is drawing
national attention and world-class talent to the city and the campus.
Abolishing the Traditional Boundaries
The question is, why hasn’t this kind of collaboration been happening all along? The
answer lies in how scientific research has traditionally been conducted in modern hospitals
and universities.
“I’ve been interested in a number of orthopedic problems with the growing part of the bone
and cartilage for more than 35 years,” says Weiner. “For the first 30 years, I looked around and
couldn’t find anyone to help me with them. The Ph.D.s at medical schools and universities
were doing their thing. Orthopedic surgeons were doing their thing. That’s not good
enough. We need to be working together on things that improve the overall quality of life.
“Can we do it?” he asks, and answers immediately. “I think so.”