Academic Affiliation investment: Labs receive new equipment

October 19, 2017 | News, UToday, Medicine and Life Sciences
By Jen Sorgenfrei



Biomedical researchers at The University of Toledo are working with substantially greater support thanks to a significant investment in new laboratory equipment from ProMedica through the Academic Affiliation with the College of Medicine and Life Sciences.

University and ProMedica leaders joined faculty and staff Oct. 11 for tours of renovated laboratories on Health Science Campus and to celebrate the investment. The new state-of-the-art equipment encompasses 11 instruments across three labs in the Health Education and the Block Health Sciences buildings.

Allen Schroering, histology lab manager in the Advanced Microscopy and Imaging Center in the College of Medicine and Life Sciences, discussed lab improvements with ProMedica President and CEO Randy Oostra.

“The new technologies will equip our expert researchers with the tools they need to advance knowledge and develop better therapies to treat our loved ones,” UT President Sharon L. Gaber said. “These state-of-the-art research facilities also are critical in attracting and retaining the talent needed to elevate Toledo as a leading academic medical community.”

Signed in 2015, two major goals of the Academic Affiliation are to recruit and retain top talent to the region and to grow biomedical research. The University additionally seeks to increase external research funding to support ongoing discovery. Leaders of both institutions believe that first-class research capabilities will support both goals.

“We should invest in the capabilities of the people who are here today, but also plan for the people we want to attract in the future,” Randy Oostra, president and chief executive officer of ProMedica, said. “We’re very serious about changing the trajectory of our two organizations by working together.”

Dr. William Maltese, professor and McMaster Endowed Chair of Biochemistry and Cancer Biology, expressed appreciation on behalf of University researchers for the investment, and assured University and ProMedica leaders that the new equipment was selected after careful consideration of the resources needed to support and grow biomedical research at UT.

Many of the new instruments replace antiquated equipment with updated techniques and newer technology, and high-throughput systems improve speed and efficiency by producing results and analysis in just days for tests that previously took months. The investment additionally includes instruments new to the University, providing technology and capabilities previously unavailable in the research enterprise.

“This investment from ProMedica in our research facilities is matching words with deeds for progress in the Toledo community,” Dr. Christopher Cooper, executive vice president for clinical affairs and dean of the College of Medicine and Life Sciences, said. “It’s a tangible example of what we set out to do with the [Academic] Affiliation.”

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