| Health Sciences South Carolina Initiatives |
| Centers of Economic Excellence |
| Brain Imaging Center of Excellence |
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|  The Brain Imaging Center of Economic Excellence focuses on how the human brain works, both in health and in disease. The main area of development involves Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). This area of research will lead to intervention technologies, which will improve the function of individuals whose brains have been damaged by illnesses such as stroke or Parkinson’s disease. Too, the Center seeks to develop new technologies for medical devices, MRI hardware and software.  Click here to learn more about this CoEE
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| Center for Regenerative Medicine |
| | Tissue engineering, often called regenerative medicine, is the regeneration or remodeling of tissue and organs for the purpose of repairing, replacing, maintaining or enhancing organ function. The Center for Regenerative Medicine’s foundation is to combine principles and methods of biology, medicine, and the physical sciences and engineering to exploit living cells for therapeutic or diagnostic purposes. Therapeutic applications involve growing tissues or organs inside a patient or in vitro for transplantation. Diagnostic applications involve growing tissue in vitro for testing drug metabolism, uptake, toxicity, and pathogenicity. The Center aims to translate basic research into novel therapies for genetic and degenerative disorders. Click here to lean more about this CoEE
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| Center for Clinical Effectiveness and Patient Safety |
| | The mission of the Center for Clinical Effectiveness and Patient Safety is to improve clinical education and patient safety through the use of simulation technology. Through a statewide network of simulation centers, the goals of the Center are to improve the quality of delivered care, advance the practice and training of the medical workforce and allied health professionals, and become an international focal point for health sciences education and innovative research in education and safety. Click here to learn more about this CoEE
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| Center for Childhood Neurotherapeutics |
| | Neurotherapy is the treatment of psychological, psychiatric and/or nervous disorders. The Center for Childhood eurotherapeutics is an integrated statewide team, which focuses on the prevention of brain damage in premature infants and the curing of infant brain diseases through cellular engineering. The three endowed chairs for this Center will focus on translating neuroscience into pharmaceuticals for safe use in children; developing new protocols and drugs to treat neurodevelopmental disorders; and evaluating new treatment protocols, drugs and devices; and preparing them for marketing and dissemination. Cllick here to learn more about this CoEE
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| Center for Molecular Proteomics in Cardiovascular Disease Prevention and Treatment |
| | Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death and disability in South Carolina, accounting for one in four deaths. It is something physicians and researchers have struggled to evaluate until after a patient has exhibited symptoms, at which point the disease is often advanced and irreversible. The purpose of the Center for Proteomics for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention and Treatment is to translate advances in basic “bench” science to clinical “bedside” care in an effort to improve the health care of the citizens of South Carolina. The Center’s priorities are creating diagnostic techniques, prognostic risk profiles, therapeutic management strategies, a statewide network, and technology development and transfer. |
| Center for Healthcare Quality |
| | The Center for Healthcare Quality will capitalize on recent scientific discoveries and technological advances, as well as South Carolina’s unique characteristics and resources, in order to conduct innovative research to improve the health of the population and the economic wellbeing of the state. Specific projects include developing a statewide Clinical Research Organization, the South Carolina Health Data Portal, and a Healthcare Data Coordinating Center.
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| Stroke |
| | Although it is among the most preventable chronic diseases, stroke is the third leading cause of death in South Carolina and particularly prevalent among African Americans. The Center for Stroke has the long term vision of developing novel methods and statewide collaborations aimed at the reduction of the incidence of stroke, providing up-to-date acute and long term care, and improving outcomes of stroke survivors in South Carolina. The Center also strives to enhance the ways that stroke is treated, through research and innovative service delivery.
Click here to learn more about this CoEE
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| SeniorSMART™ |
| | The aging of the U.S. population will present unprecedented challenges and opportunities in the coming years. The so-called “baby boomer” generation will now become the “senior boomers,” and will wield unprecedented wealth and political influence and have different expectations from previous cohorts. A core value of this generation can be expressed in the term “independence.” The SeniorSMART Center will focus on preserving older adult independence through interdisciplinary research that focuses on key areas including the home, physical mobility, driving, and maintaining a healthy brain. The Center uses SmartHOME, SmartWHEELS, and SharpBRAIN research areas of focus. The economic potential is tremendous for those companies that contribute to maintaining independence and improving quality of life for older adults.
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| Health Facilities Design and Testing |
| | The Center for Health Facilities Design and Testing will engage in collaborative interdisciplinary research on how design of specific health care settings and features impacts the operational efficiency, therapeutic outcomes and patient safety, and patient/staff satisfaction and change. Research will focus on the rigorous study of repetitive settings within health care facilities where significant health care interactions occur. Design and research activities will involve conceiving, testing and implementing new concepts for a range of patient care, diagnosis and treatment spaces.
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| Other Initiatives |
| Investigational Drug Services White Paper |
| | Health systems provide vital support for conducting investigational drug research and are responsible for maintaining the credibility of research and protection of human subjects. Along with the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP), HSSC acknowledges the need for a specific guideline in managing investigational drugs for clinical research. The purposes of this document are to outline the principles of clinical drug research and to provide guidance to pharmacists and others responsible for managing investigational drugs within the health system. The pharmacists role in clinical drug research is also defined. Download white paper
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| South Carolina Coordinated Cancer Initiative |
| | In April 2006, the partners of Health Sciences South Carolina signed a Memorandum of Understanding to establish the first statewide cancer research initiative in the US. The SC Coordinated Cancer Initiative will have locations in Charleston, Columbia, Greennville, and Spartanburg. The Hollings Cancer Center in Charleston will lead the initiative with support from other cancer centers.
In addition to research, the South Carolina Coordinated Cancer Initiative will establish a statewide clinical trials network, a statewide tissue bank system and standardized cancer care protocols. These ventures will enable potentially lifesaving research to move from the lab and into patient care more quickly and efficiently.
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