The State of Ohio https://ohio.gov, JobsOhio https://www.jobsohio.com, the Ohio Development Services Agency https://development.ohio.gov, and the Cleveland Clinic https://my.clevelandclinic.org are partnering to form the Global Center for Pathogen Research & Human Health.
The partnership will use a total of $500 million to form the Center. The State of Ohio and JobsOhio will invest $200 million to help launch the Center plus the Cleveland Clinic plans to provide an additional $300 million as a co-investment to fuel discoveries.
The Center will be led by Jae Jung, Ph.D an expert in virology and virus-induced cancers who has broken ground in the field of inflammation, immune-oncology, and emerging pathogens. The team plans to recruit more than 300 scientists to do research in their new and existing research facilities in the next 5-7 years.
The Center will bring together a research team focused on broadening the understanding of viral pathogens, virus induced cancers, genomics, immunology, immunotherapies, Researchers will expand study on public health threats such as HIV/AIDS, Dengue fever, Zika, and COVID-19.
The research at the Center will be organized around six collaborative programs with multidisciplinary experts in virology and immunology, personalized medicine and genomics, population health, drug discovery, diagnostic development, and how to integrate big data with patient care.
The new Center will also create new start-up technology companies in the Cleveland Innovation District which is expected to attract world-leading corporations to the state, generate an estimated 1,000 new jobs at the Cleveland Clinic by 2029, and provide for an additional 7.500 jobs in Ohio by 2034.
“This is the largest research effort in Cleveland Clinic’s 100 year history. The new Global Center for Pathogen Research & Human Health will put Cleveland, Ohio at the forefront of pathogen research and help to prepare for the next pandemic or healthcare crisis, according to Cleveland Clinic CEO and President, Tom Mihaljevic, MD.