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For Immediate Release For Information New Health Sciences South Carolina-supported CoEE to promote healthy lifestyles Technology Center to Enhance Healthful Lifestyles will develop new technologies for improving health COLUMBIA, S.C., October 9, 2009 – According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, South Carolina ranks sixth in the nation in obesity and seventh in diabetes. It’s chronic diseases like these that have caused the state’s public health and its economy to suffer. Health Sciences South Carolina (HSSC) is supporting the new Technology Center to Enhance Healthful Lifestyles to address this serious issue. This Center of Economic Excellence (CoEE) will focus on developing new technologies for improving health, preventing illnesses and successfully managing chronic health problems. The CoEE Board has approved $3 million in South Carolina Education Lottery funds for the Technology Center to Enhance Healthful Lifestyles. HSSC will partially match the state’s investment through private funding. The Center is the twelfth HSSC-supported CoEE. HSSC partners, University of South Carolina (USC) and the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), will collaborate in the Center. Under the co-direction of Dr. Steven Blair of USC and Dr. Carolyn Jenkins of MUSC, the Center will develop technology, such as interactive, web-based coaching programs, to to prevent and control chronic diseases by helping people make healthy lifestyle choices. HSSC President and CEO Jay Moskowitz, PhD, says, “Healthier lifestyles are the first step to improving our state’s health status and its economy. This new Center will bring about new ideas and technologies that will help South Carolinians become healthier and thus more productive at home and work. This, in turn, will make our state more attractive to companies relocating to South Carolina. Because chronic diseases challenge many states, any new technologies that emerge from this Center have commercial potential across the country.” A reduction in chronic diseases will also help lower healthcare costs. Commenting on the new Center, USC President Harris Pastides said, “The Technology Center to Enhance Healthful Lifestyles could result in marketable products such as new communications technologies and applications for individuals, worksites, health professionals, and health systems. Products could include software and information systems for cell phones, smart phones, iPods and computerized kiosks.” The Center’s leaders hope to create interactive tools that will reach all segments of society, reducing health disparities, improving economic wellbeing, and enhancing the quality of life in South Carolina. About Health Sciences South Carolina Established in April 2004, Health Sciences South Carolina (HSSC) is a statewide public-private collaborative of universities and health systems possessing the shared vision of using health sciences research to improve the health and economic wellbeing of South Carolina. HSSC includes Clemson University, the Medical University of South Carolina, the University of South Carolina, Greenville Hospital System University Medical Center, Palmetto Health, and Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System. For more information, visit www.healthsciencessc.org. |
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