The following items are press coverage highlights that feature the recent activities and accomplishments of the Austen BioInnovation Institute in Akron (ABIA).  The collection, distribution and ongoing  development of such press coverage is covered by the Communications Department, whose purpose is to develop a public knowledge of the ABIA and its mission.

Click on an article’s headline to view the article in its entirety.  To view news releases for the Austen BioInnovation Institute in Akron, visit our Featured News web page.

  • May 2, 2012: Medical group sponsors student science competition. Three local high school students earned grand-prize honors during a recent engineering, science and technology competition hosted by the Austen BioInnovation Institute in Akron.  Hudson High school junior William Jack and St. Vincent-St. Mary High School seniors Sasha Kovalchick and Alex Pianalto were among the top winners at the BEST (Bridging Engineering, Science and Technology) Medicine Engineering Fair held at the National Inventors Hall of Fame School in Akron…
  • April 30, 2012: Austen BioInnovation Institute conference attracts leaders in medical field and innovation. Recently, the Austen BioInnovation Institute in Akron held a value-driven engineering conference including some of the country’s leading doctors and innovators. The two-day conference, which attracted nearly 300 people, focused on topics such as maximizing value for patient and healthcare systems, medical device complexity and educating the next generation of value-driven engineers.  The institute, which is supported by a $20 million grant from Knight Foundation, is a collaboration of five major clinical and academic institutions focused on making the Northeast Ohio region a leader in using polymer technology for patient-centered health care. The institute seeks to expand on the area’s strong tradition in industrial and material science to help lead the next generation of life-enhancing and life-saving innovation…
  • April 25, 2012: BioInnovation Institute national conference attracts nearly 300. Want to know how to make better products for patients?  Ask the patients.  Medical device companies need to start with the end users — the patients — when trying to design products, several speakers told a crowd of health-care and medical device experts during the Austen BioInnovation Institute in Akron’s Value-Driven Engineering and U.S. Global Competitiveness conference Monday at the John S. Knight Center.  “I do know we need to listen to the patient,” said one of the featured national speakers, Debra Lappin, a principal with FaegreBD Consulting and president of the Council for American Medical Innovation…
  • April 14, 2012: New BioInnovation Institute headquarters nearing completion in downtown Akron. A partnership that is shaping Akron’s economic future soon will move into its new home in the heart of the city.  The Austen BioInnovation Institute in Akron is finalizing its new headquarters, located in the bottom three floors and the basement of the old Summit County Job & Family Services building at 47 N. Main St.  The $12.8 million renovation is expected to be complete by May, with a grand opening following in June, said Dr. Michael Holder, the BioInnovation Institute’s director of the Center for Simulation and Integrated Healthcare Education…
  • February 9, 2012: BioInnovation Institute wants community health project to become national model. An Akron partnership is trying to establish a national model to improve Americans’ health.  The Austen BioInnovation Institute in Akron on Wednesday released what it called a white paper detailing its Accountable Care Community initiative.  The project brings together public health, medical providers, health systems, higher education, safety-net services, researchers, mental-health services and other community agencies to develop community wide health improvement programs, said Dr. Frank L. Douglas, president and chief executive of the Austen BioInnovation Institute in Akron…
  • February 7, 2012: Frank L. Douglas: Out of collaboration, bioinnovation in Akron. In recent weeks, the Austen BioInnovation Institute in Akron (ABIA) announced the first medical device company to emerge from our unique collaboration of leading health-care and educational organizations. Apto Orthopeadics offers hope to thousands of children whose curved spines require frequent and painful surgeries…
  • January 30, 2012: Frank L. Douglas, MD, PhD, Rock-Star Physician Scientist Leads ABIA. As a renowned leader in healthcare, pharmaceutical research, biotechnology and entrepreneurship, Frank L. Douglas, MD, PhD, is accustomed to receiving awards — among them the Louis B. Russell Memorial American Heart Association Award, the National Organization of Chemists and Chemical Engineers Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Medal of Honor from the Johann Wolfgang von Goethe University in Frankfurt, Germany…
  • A partnership has launched an effort to improve the health of Summit County residents with the help of as much as $2 million a year in federal funds.  The Austen BioInnovation Institute in Akron joined more than 60 other social service and medical organizations last week to kick off its Accountable Care Community project…
  • January 15, 2012: BioInnovation Institute’s goal to spawn inventions takes root. Three years ago, Akron’s three hospital systems had fewer than five inventions under evaluation for a potential patent.  But within the last 1› years, Akron Children’s Hospital and Akron General and Summa Health systems collectively had more than 100 medical inventions in the pipeline.  For the leaders of the Austen BioInnovation Institute in Akron, those numbers are evidence of success…
  • January 13, 2012: BioInnovation Institute unveils first spinoff company. A local partnership founded to boost medical-related research and economic development has spawned its first company.  The Austen BioInnovation Institute in Akron announced on Thursday the launch of an orthopedic device company called Apto Orthopaedics.  The startup firm initially is developing a device to treat children with a curvature of the spine known as scoliosis without requiring multiple, painful surgeries. But institute leaders say the home-grown technology could lead to additional products that offer less invasive treatments for fractures and other conditions…
  • January 13, 2012: Akron collaborative forms its first medical device company. The Austen BioInnovation Institute in Akron recently announced the formation of APTO Orthopaedics, the first medical device company created by the institute.  APTO Orthopedics was formed in partnership with a pediatric surgeon at Akron Children’s Hospital. Its device will address early onset scoliosis in children and eliminate multiple surgeries by using magnets to lengthen a spine implant for the condition…
  • January 12, 2012: VIDEO Austen BioInnovation Institute Launches First Company. The Austen BioInnovation Institute in Akron has given birth to its first start-up company.  Apto-Orthopaedics will test and hopes in a few year to market a new magnetic device that will eliminate the need for numerous surgeries for children with early on-set scoliosis or curvature of the spine.  Drs. Todd Richmond, an orthopedic surgeon at Akron Children’s Hospital, and Dr. Stephen Fening of the Austin Institute built a prototype of the device which could adjust to the child’s growth by magnetically turning screws on an implant placed on the spine. That would virtually eliminate the current required incisions every six months, as a child continues to grow…
  • January 12, 2012: Scoliosis medical device startup spun out of ABIA. The Austen BioInnovation Institute in Akron (ABIA) has created its first company: a firm that’s developing a noninvasive spinal fixation system for children with scoliosis.  APTO Orthopaedics’ device is designed to eliminate the need for repetitive, painful and costly surgeries for children with scoliosis, who can require up to two surgeries per year to adjust implants for their growing spines, according to a statement from the ABIA…
  • January 12, 2012: Milwaukee leaders hope to duplicate success of Akron institute. A group of five Milwaukee leaders — including an Akron native — visited the city Wednesday for less than 24 hours to learn how community and business leaders collaborated in developing the Austen BioInnovation Institute in Akron.  The visit was related to a trip last fall to Milwaukee by 40 area community leaders to learn about innovations employed by another industrial Midwest city…
  • December 20, 2011: Lubrizol Corp., Austen BioInnovation Institute. The Austen BioInnovation Isntitute in Akron and Lubrizol Corp. in Wickliffe announced a partnership Tuesday to develop and commercialize emerging technologies.  The agreement will combine the institute’s expertise in polymer science and clinical applications with Lubrizol’s lives and develop the region’s economy through biomedical innovation…
  • December 17, 2011: Partnership in Polymers [Editorial]. The Austen BioInnovation Institute in Akron is making an impression on exactly the kind of partners it needs — partners that allow the institute to play to the research and technical strengths of its local and regional base.  The institute and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration last week announced an agreement to collaborate in projects to understand the characteristics of new biomedical materials and polymers and to develop effective methods to assess their safety and performance in medical devices, such as pacemakers and replacement joints…
  • December 16, 2011: FDA selects Akron partnership for polymer expertise. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is turning to an Akron-area partnership for its expert knowledge about medical devices made from polymer materials.  The federal agency on Thursday entered a memorandum of understanding with the Austen BioInnovation Institute in Akron for scientific collaborations and educational initiatives…
  • December 15, 2011: Austen BioInnovation Institute, FDA to partner on medical device regulation. The Austen BioInnovation Institute in Akron is collaborating with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to share its expertise in the use of biomaterials and polymers in medical devices.  The goal of the partnership is to help the FDA more effectively regulate the safety and performance of the materials when they’re used in the manufacture of medical devices, according to a statement from the Austen BioInnovation Institute in Akron (ABIA)…
  • November 23, 2011: Make-believe Medina mayhem produces real-world benefits. The University of Akron’s Medina County University Center was the scene of many disasters Nov. 19. There were screaming patients, some bleeding, some burned. Others were victims of chemical attacks, burned and dying. It was a horrific sight at times.  But this time it was made-up theater students wearing strap-on wounds and acting like victims. It was a day of training for first responders and ER staff members to prepare for the worst-case scenarios resulting from chemical agent attacks and large-scale disasters…
  • September 12, 2011: Orthopaedics Led by Innovation. Stephen Fening wasn’t content to heal one person at a time.  So the orthopedic devices director at Austen BioInnovation Institute in Akron, Ohio, has devoted his career to engineering products that help hundreds of surgeons improve thousands of patients’ lives every year.  Fening will lead a seminar on the topic of orthopedic innovation at this week’s Orthopedic Design & Technology Forum Supplier Expo. More than 70 exhibitors have registered for the expo at Grand Wayne Center…
  • August 26, 2011: PacerMan Invention allows doctors to practice placing pacemaker in vein of a patient. How can a novice doctor learn to implant a pacemaker through a vein to save a patient with a deadly slow heart rate?  PacerMan to the rescue.  Dr. Rami A. Ahmed, an emergency medicine physician and simulation medical director at Summa Health System, worked with Summa Simulation Manager S. Scott Atkinson to create the PacerMan device after failing to find a training model for the delicate procedure…
  • August 23, 2011: An Accountable Care Community in Akron, Ohio: Collaborating to Create a Healthier Future. In response to chronic health conditions, the Austen BioInnovation Institute in Akron (ABIA), its founding members, and numerous community organizations have joined to launch a first-of-its-kind Accountable Care Community, which will use the full force of the Summit County, Ohio, community to combat the region’s health concerns…
  • August 15, 2011: PacerMan boosts training in life-saving medical procedure. How can a novice doctor learn to implant a pacemaker through a vein to save a patient with a deadly slow heart rate?  PacerMan to the rescue.  Dr. Rami A. Ahmed, an emergency medicine physician and simulation medical director at Summa Health System, worked with Summa Simulation Manager S. Scott Atkinson to create the PacerMan device after failing to find a training model for the delicate procedure…
  • July 18, 2011: Austen BioInnovation Institute: Giving Teamwork a Whole New Meaning. Two years isn’t a long time to be in business, but Austen BioInnovation Institute is showing that ambition, commitment and a mountain of local community support can do to make a major impact in a short amount of time…
  • June 23, 2011: Groups partner to improve health. A partnership of Akron’s three hospital systems, the University of Akron and the region’s medical school launched an initiative on Wednesday to improve the health of area residents.  The Austen BioInnovation Institute in Akron has started what is being called an ”Accountable Care Community,” a community-wide effort to improve promotion, access and delivery of health care to residents…
  • June 23, 2011: Austen BioInnovation Institute in Akron engages health professionals to create community model. Today, the Austen BioInnovation Institute in Akron held a conference called Healthier by Design: Creating Accountable Care Communities. Over 130 medical, pharmaceutical, university and public health professionals from around the nation attended. ABIA plans to engage the community to create a model for health promotion and disease prevention and increase the quality and delivery of service. ABIA president and CEO Frank Douglas said the goal is to “lessen the burden of disease, thus reducing healthcare costs and improving lives and the productivity of the community.”…
  • June 22, 2011: Austen BioInnovation Institute looks to form health care, social service alliance in Akron. Austen BioInnovation Institute in Akron has announced it will form an alliance among the city’s social service agencies and health care providers in hopes of reducing health care costs and improving the productivity of the community.  Though the idea is still amorphous, the hope is to create a shared responsibility for the health of the community through what the group is calling an “accountable care community.” And if the plan takes hold, the group hopes to use the model in other communities nationwide, according to Dr. Frank Douglas, the institute’s president and CEO…
  • June 22, 2011: Austen BioInnovation Institute in Akron begins work on roadmap for first U.S. Accountable Care Community. With the intent to create a healthier community and lessen the burden of disease in Akron, the Austen BioInnovation Institute in Akron (ABIA) has launched its Accountable Care Community initiative at the conference “Healthier by Design: Creating Accountable Care Communities” held today.  Led by national and regional health and wellness thought-leaders, the strategic discussion is the first step in building a plan of health promotion and disease prevention that determines how to best deliver and provide access to quality care and services for the entire community…
  • June 20, 2011: VdE initiative to boost US bioinnovation. Value-driven engineering (VdE) is the focal point of a plan developed by a group of leading biomedical organizations that assembled last March at A Safe Haven Summit in Washington, DC, convened by the Austen Bioinnovation Institute in Akron (ABIA), a collaboration of hospitals and health organizations (Akron Children’s Hospital, Akron General Health System, and Summa Health Systems and universities (Northeastern Ohio Universities Colleges of Medicine and Pharmacy (NEOUCOM) and The University of Akron ), focused on patient-centered innovation and commercialization…
  • June 17, 2011: Report calls for less complexity in medical device design. The Austen BioInnovation Institute in Akron, Ohio, has released a white paper on value-driven engineering that aims to reduce unnecessary complexity of design of medical devices, according to a release by the Institute.  To encourage this approach, which would lower device costs, the Institute proposes to revamp funding and regulations of devices and introduce public-private collaborations. One example of value-driven engineering is a one-use patch developed by iRhythm Technologies that allows patients to monitor their heart rhythms over a fortnight for about the same cost as a blood test…
  • June 17, 2011: Akron partnership leads plan for medical devices. The Austen BioInnovation Institute in Akron is leading a national push to make the United States more competitive globally in the medical device industry.  BioInnovation Institute President and Chief Executive Dr. Frank L. Douglas joined with other industry leaders on Thursday to unveil proposals to reduce the complexity of getting new products approved, boost public and private funding and attract more young talent to the biomedical field…
  • June 17, 2011: Austen BioInnovation Institute makes case for value-driven engineering. The Austen BioInnovation Institute in Akron is leading a national push to make the United States more competitive globally in the medical device industry.  BioInnovation Institute President and Chief Executive Dr. Frank L. Douglas joined with other industry leaders on Thursday to unveil proposals to reduce the complexity of getting new products approved, boost public and private funding and attract more young talent to the biomedical field…
  • May 1, 2011: How venture capital funding can benefit your company. Many entrepreneurs have great ideas but struggle to bring them to fruition due to a lack of funding.  Venture capital can be the answer, leading to success, and, ultimately, to the sale of the company, says Kenneth Levine, CPA, a director in assurance services at SS&G.  “There are advantages and disadvantages to venture capital funding,” says Levine. “But for the right company in the right situation, it can be a win all around.”  Smart Business spoke with Levine about what kinds of companies can benefit from venture capital and how it’s helping to change the Northeast Ohio landscape…
  • April 22, 2011: Progress for BioInnovation. Construction is expected to start by early May on a new downtown headquarters for the Austen BioInnovation Institute in Akron, the partnership’s leader announced on Thursday.  BioInnovation President and Chief Executive Frank Douglas shared updates about the collaborative venture with about 350 area business, health-care and political leaders during an annual community update breakfast at the John S. Knight Center in Akron…
  • April 12, 2011: Students win biomed fair

    They’re not out of high school yet, but two Akron-area students already are making their mark in the local biomedical field.  Jennifer Anand, 16, of Bath Township and Matt Schwenning, 18, of Richfield won top honors this month during the Bridging Engineering, Science and Technology Medicine Engineering Fair at the National Inventors Hall of Fame School in Akron…

  • March 31, 2011: Akron’s Bid for Biomed. Last week Mayor Don Plusquellic announced a new biomedical start-up incubator with an eye toward attracting medical device hopefuls from around the world. It’s an extension of the Austen BioInnovation Institute, which has been nurturing the ideas of local students and doctors for the past 16 months, says its president and CEO, Frank Douglas…
  • March 22, 2011: Akron institute leads U.S. medical summit. A partnership from Akron is leading a national effort to boost the United States’ competitiveness in making quality, more affordable medical devices. The Austen BioInnovation Institute in Akron this month led the Value-driven Engineering and U.S. Global Competitiveness Safe Haven Summit in Washington, D.C…
  • March 15, 2011: Leaders from U.S. government, biomedical industry, academia form coalition to spur medical device innovation, jobs. Leaders from industry, academia and the public and private sectors have called for the creation of a public-private coalition as part of a roadmap for the biomedical sector and to retain the United States’ lead in medical device development and innovation.  Gathered in Washington, D.C., for the Value-driven Engineering and U.S. Global Competitiveness Safe Haven Summit – sponsored by the Austen BioInnovation Institute in Akron (ABIA)…
  • March 8, 2011: Healthcare firm gets backing. The Austen BioInnovation Institute in Akron is getting an extra $1 million through the Summit County Port Authority for its headquarters project. The County Council on Monday agreed to guarantee up to a $7 million bond issue and $2.5 million state loan for the health-care institute, which is building its offices in downtown Akron…
  • February 18, 2011: Akron may be model for healthcare delivery .The head of Akron’s Austen BioInnovation Institute was named one of 17 national “Rock Stars of Science” last year.  But in a speech at the Akron Roundtable today (Thursday), Frank  Douglas said the collaboration that created the institute – and the innovative work coming out of that – is what is drawing national interest from investors, researchers and the national government. That includes the FDA.  The institute is a collaboration of Akron’s five big medical and educational institutions focused on polymers, wound care and orthopedics…
  • January 26, 2011: University of Akron, Austen BioInnovation Institute get national recognition. Efforts in Akron to foster technology-related ventures got national recognition in a competition managed by the U.S. Commerce Department.  John Fernandez, U.S. assistant secretary of commerce for economic development, came to Akron on Wednesday to present the National i6 Challenge Award to the University of Akron Research Foundation and the Austen BioInnovation Institute.  The competition identified the best ideas for technology commercialization and entrepreneurship in six regions of the United States.  The local project, named Innovative Solutions for Invention Xceleration, or ISIX, aims to increase innovation and speed commercialization by bringing together world-class scientists, physicians, engineers, researchers and entrepreneurs in the biomedical and polymer science industries of Northeast Ohio…
  • January 25, 2011: Ready to do business. Sixteen researchers and business students have been selected to help transform medical and scientific research findings into start-up companies that create local jobs. The Austen BioInnovation Institute in Akron has teamed with the University of Akron College of Business Administration to offer the Women’s Entrepreneurship Program. The selected participants will take free classes at the College of Business Administration and receive hands-on help from local and national experts in transforming research findings into commercial opportunities…
  • January 19, 2011: House Speaker Warns of State Cuts. Ohio House Speaker William Batchelder told a group of Akron-area government and business leaders Tuesday to brace for cuts in state funding for local governments… The daylong conference, Building Prosperity in Greater Akron Forum, featured panel discussions with more than 20 business, political, educational and think tank leaders from around the country.  Topics ranged from the importance of local partnerships to creating a talented work force… One of the morning sessions focused on the region’s successes, such as the Austen BioInnovation Institute, University Park Alliance, University of Akron Research Foundation and attracting companies from overseas.  Experts from outside Akron praised local political and educational leaders, saying they have been effective in pushing the economy here and collaborating…
  • January 18, 2011: Business news briefs. Brian L. Davis, with the Austen BioInnovation Institute, will talk about innovation in the medical device industry and what it means for local entrepreneurs at a Thursday presentation. The program from 5 to 8 p.m. is free and open to the public. It is a gathering of the Entrepreneur’s Idea Exchange at UA’s College of Business, aimed at experience, new and would-be business owners…
  • January 7, 2011: Ryan Reaches out to Kasich. The office of U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan yesterday released a letter he sent to John Kasich, inviting Ohio’s next governor here for a local meeting and urging Kasich to work with him to continue northeast Ohio’s “trajectory of success.”  Ryan is close politically and personally to outgoing Gov. Ted Strickland, and that association helped direct state and federal dollars to his 17th congressional district.  His letter to Kasich outlined recent economic development initiatives in northeast Ohio… a public-private-university partnership has established the Austen BioInnovation Institute in Akron (ABIA), a facility that has been designated as an Ohio Center of Excellence for Biomedicine and Healthcare…
  • December 27, 2010: GAR Foundation to Award $651,000 in Grants. The GAR Foundation recently approved $651,000 in grants to support operations and programs at 17 nonprofit organizations… The largest grant this quarter went to the Austen BioInnovation Institute in Akron, which received $150,000 to help launch its Patient Education Program targeted toward low-income patients with diabetes…
  • December 26, 2010: Power 100: Anthony Alexander. First Energy CEO Anthony Alexander has long been known for going the extra mile. Or 1,100 miles. In 2008, Alexander learned that Akron’s Austen BioInnovation Institute, a biomedical think tank and lab that FirstEnergy helps find, was in the running for a $20 million grant from the Miami-based Knight Foundation. Alexander decided to go to Florida personally and make a case for the Institute…