Ohio Reaches $1 Billion in NIH Funding

Healthcare research in Ohio is reaching new heights. Together, Ohio’s leading healthcare institutions are driving innovation, advancing medicine, and fueling the state’s life science sector like never before.

For the first time, Ohio healthcare researchers secured a record-breaking $1 billion in awards from The National Institutes of Health (NIH) during fiscal year 2023. NIH dollars are a leading indicator of a state’s future success in the life sciences, planting the seeds for future discoveries, start-ups, and, eventually, FDA-approved medicines.

The National Institutes of Health is the world's largest public funder of biomedical research. NIH-funded research has led to breakthroughs and new treatments, helping people live longer, healthier lives, and building the research foundation that drives discovery.

Leading the way for NIH-funded research for the state, The Ohio State University claimed an impressive $252 million. Case Western Reserve University and its partner University Hospitals were awarded a remarkable $194 million in NIH funding. This marks an incredible 58% growth in NIH grants to Ohio researchers in the past decade.

Rounding out the top six research centers statewide are Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center with $169 million, Cleveland Clinic with $136 million, University of Cincinnati with $85 million, and Nationwide Children's Hospital with $67 million. Each year, the NIH awards over 60,000 grants that directly support more than 300,000 researchers at more than 2,500 different institutions.

This significant achievement isn’t without benefits beyond the laboratory; according to NIH, for every $1.00 invested in the lab, NIH grants generate $2.6 in economic activity. Notably, every $100 million in NIH grants results in 76 patents, highlighting the tangible impact of technological advancements.

Not only are these six institutions breaking records for NIH’s investment in Ohio, but they are also vital partners in the state’s innovation movement. In 2019, these seven organizations, plus MetroHealth and Cleveland State University, joined forces with the state of Ohio and JobsOhio to create three Innovation Districts enabled by $3 billion in investment, committed to inspiring at least 47,000 new STEM graduates and fueling an estimated 60,000 new jobs in Ohio over a decade.

Although Ohio’s Innovation Districts are relatively new endeavors, the anchor institutions are well-established, world-class organizations and are making national headlines for their outcomes, discoveries, and partnerships. National headline examples from 2023 include accomplishments such as U.S. News and World Report’s annual Best Hospitals rankings, placing Cincinnati Children’s at the top of their list of best children’s hospitals in the country and Nationwide Children’s at third place.

The Cleveland Clinic and IBM unveiled the first quantum computer dedicated to healthcare research. The IBM Quantum System One installed at Cleveland Clinic is the first quantum computer in the world uniquely dedicated to healthcare research with an aim to help Cleveland Clinic accelerate biomedical discoveries.

Dedicated to advancing medical research, The Ohio State University opened the Pelotonia Research Center, the first new building to open in Carmenton, the OSU innovation district. The space is equipped with technologies and resources needed for researchers to work across disciplines to accelerate new discoveries.

Also in 2023, Case Western Reserve was featured on the CBS News program 60 Minutes for groundbreaking work led by biomedical engineering pioneers who are bringing a renewed sense of touch to amputees and people with paralysis using neuroprosthetics.

Now is a transitional time for medical research in Ohio. Our institutions and public-private partnerships are fostering a system of innovation matching the likes of the world's most renowned centers of invention. And we’re doing it with the curiosity, tenacity, and collaboration you can only expect in Ohio.

If you’d like to learn more about how your business or research can become a part of Ohio’s flourishing innovation environment, please reach out to me.

Tyler Allchin

Managing Director, Healthcare

Allchin@JobsOhio.com