Hoosier governor tours Northwest Center for Medical Education

In January, William Baldwin, director of the IU Northwest Center for Medical Education (left) hosted Gov. Frank O’Bannon on a tour of the facility, including a first-hand look at research projects and teaching innovations related to the life sciences.

In the lab of Roman Dziarski, the governor got a quick lesson on the study of human genes to prevent infection. Later, he peered down a microscope to look at an antibody-stained slide of human retina prepared by Nancy Mangini. “That’s incredible,” he said of the research.

O’Bannon was in northwest Indiana promoting his $1.25 billion economic development proposal called “Energize Indiana.” Part of that proposal is increased support for biomedical research and education in the life sciences to develop jobs, potentially 200,000 of them during the next 10 years for Hoosiers.

O’Bannon pointed to the 82,000 jobs in related fields already in Indiana and a growth rate 40 percent faster than any other sector in the state. He also acknowledged the need to keep Indiana competitive for National Institutes for Health dollars and to raise its share compared to other states.

William Baldwin, director of the Northwest Center, said he strongly supported O’Bannon’s efforts to promote the fields of biomedical research and life sciences to develop economic stability in the Hoosier state.

“We’re not going to build any more steel mills in this area, but the potential for biomedical products and pharmaceuticals is unlimited,” Baldwin said.

The governor said his proposal envisions a partnership with the IU School of Medicine which, because of its nine branches and faculty in strategic parts of the state, has an infrastructure which can be built upon to stimulate job growth in the biomedical industry all over the state.

O’Bannon toured several research labs, the Library Learning Center, the Genetics Clinic and Laboratory, and the Standardized Patient Learning Center. He also observed a small-group case study with first-year medical students in a physiology class. He said that what he saw at the Northwest Center reinforced his belief that biomedical research and education were one of the best ways to stimulate future job growth for Hoosiers.