The newly established OU Bioengineering Center recently received a $1 million Special Opportunity Award from the Whitaker Foundation.
OU's Health Sciences Center and Norman campus have collaborated with the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation to form the OUBC, and were very important in obtaining the Whitaker grant, said Edgar O'Rear, associate engineering dean.
"A good bioengineering program has strong ties to biosciences and the Health Sciences Center, so we are trying to reach out and make an impact cross-campus," O'Rear said.
The Whitaker grant funds will provide support for hiring new faculty, which will help advance the bioengineering department, O'Rear said. The core purpose of the grant is to develop graduate degrees in bioengineering, he said .
Other institutions that successfully competed for the Whitaker grants include Harvard, the Massachusettes Institute of Technology, Cornell, the University of Pennsylvania and Georgia Tech.
"This is a very competitive award and we're lucky to get it," O'Rear said.
Oklahoma has a rich history in bioengineering, O'Rear said. Bioengineers from Oklahoma, Bob Nerem and Dick Wandeirdi, are recognized as two of the most respected in their field and were instrumental in bringing the $1 million award to OU.
"We look at this like a stepping stone and we plan to build bioengineering not just at OU, but statewide," O'Rear said. "We feel new opportunities for government funding as well as opportunities from other organizations will arise from this. We hope to greatly develop this program over the next few years."
Establishment of the OUBC includes a new seed grant program to promote collaboration between faculty members at the Health Sciences Center, OMRF and the Norman campus. Proposals, which must include a scientist from OUHSC or OMRF and an engineer from Norman, are due July 16. Additional information, guidelines and assistance in identifying potential collaborators may be obtained from members of the coordinating committee. Interested faculty members should contact Edgar O'Rear, Richard Cummings, Rodger McEver or Karel Schubert.
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