Governor's Column by Dave Heineman

June 26, 2009 UNMC Leading the Way Recently, I had the opportunity to participate in a ceremony to mark the opening of the second research tower at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Over the past decade, UNMC has grown remarkably, with more than $300 million in capital projects either finished or under construction. These have been funded almost entirely through private donations. Behind this growth is UNMC Chancellor Harold M. Maurer, M.D., and his capable team. When Hal became chancellor of UNMC, he indicated that campus research growth would be his legacy, and what a legacy he has built. In a decade, the annual research support to UNMC medical scientists has grown from approximately $30 million to more than $82 million. Medical research is important for many reasons. The most obvious is the advances that are made to cure and treat devastating diseases. At UNMC, scientists are focused on the causes and potential treatments for numerous types of cancer, neurological disorders, infectious diseases and many other maladies. Since the Durham Research Center was built in 2003, UNMC scientists have made great strides in determining how to deliver drugs across the blood brain barrier, which protects our brain from dangerous infections and disease. The barrier also inhibits medications that are important to treating brain-related diseases, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Scientists in the second research tower -- the Durham Research Center II -- are conducting research on diseases which impact the lungs, the liver or the GI tract. The building, which includes a new home for the Nebraska Public Health Laboratory, also features one of the top research teams in the country studying staph infections and other serious bacterial infections. That brings me to the second reason medical research is vital to the state of Nebraska -- job creation. The U.S. Department of Commerce has determined that for every $1 million in research funding that is brought into the state, 32 jobs are created. Thus, UNMC’s $82 million research enterprise supports more than 2,600 jobs, at the Medical Center and throughout Nebraska. That’s a tremendous net-gain for our state. UNMC’s attention to research provides Nebraska’s citizens with the opportunities to participate in clinical trials and receive the latest, most cutting edge treatments. These opportunities would not have been possible without the wonderful philanthropists who have invested their resources in UNMC. The late Chuck Durham understood the promise of medical research, and he helped persuade others to invest in UNMC and our collective future. Several donors have since stepped forward, providing gifts for a beautiful medical education building, a four-story hospital addition, and other projects yet to be completed – a geriatrics center, a public health facility and a nursing college expansion. These projects are examples of private-public partnerships that are absolutely vital to Nebraska. The University of Nebraska Medical Center is a Nebraska gem. UNMC is making a difference in people’s lives. Thanks to Chancellor Maurer and his outstanding team, UNMC is a world-class facility doing extraordinary research to cure devastating diseases.