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Ohio Musculoskeletal and Neurological Institute

Brian Clark, Ph.D., director and principal investigator of OMNI

For more than a quarter century, physicians and scientists at
the Ohio Musculoskeletal and Neurological Institute (OMNI)
have been conducting outstanding interdisciplinary research on the
musculoskeletal system. Led by Brian Clark, Ph.D., director and
principal investigator, OMNI researchers are studying low back and
chronic pain disorders, age-related muscle loss and age-related muscle
weakness, exercise physiology and rehabilitation medicine, the biology
of manual therapies and bone and connective tissues.

“Musculoskeletal disorders are the number one leading cause for
someone seeking to see a general physician. The health care costs are
dramatic,” said Dr. Clark. With an annual price tag of $85 billion in
medical expenses, missed work and lost productivity due solely to
lower back pain, the burdens are only expected to increase as people
lead more sedentary lifestyles and the population grows.

Since 2008, Dr. Clark has overseen dramatic expansion of the
institute, as indicated by OMNI’s second-place ranking in the nation
for publication in peer review journals for two straight years and
rivaling scholarly output of that of any comparable group in the
world. In 2012, OMNI’s overall active research grants enterprise
was nearly $3.2 million.

With such a solid reputation and potential, the college has
identified OMNI as an ideal candidate for growth and investment.

With an estimated cost of more than $33.5 million, and $7.4 million
in seed money from the Osteopathic Heritage Foundation’s gift, OMNI
has put in place a 13-year plan that will allow them to do research that
improves patient care, increases its scholarly output and grant revenue,
and ultimately, allows the institute to become self-sustaining.

The gift provides OMNI with a base operating budget for six years
so researchers are not solely dependent on the volatility of grant funding.
However, the long-term success of OMNI will depend on building a
sustainable model during those years. The primary mechanisms for
generating revenue will have to come through the expanded grant funding,
implementation of user fees for major equipment, earnings from OMNI’s
intellectual property and development efforts directed toward those who
have been involved with OMNI programs.

“A key to our success (or failure) is going to be getting strong
participation from our principle investigators and affiliate scientists,”
Dr. Clark said, “And a critical mass of scientists working in the area is
essential to the quality of growth that OMNI envisions.”

Today, OMNI is made up of approximately 25 scientists working
in multidisciplinary teams from eight departments in four colleges.
With the gift, Dr. Clark and the OMNI faculty are able to focus on
strategic hires that complement existing research strengths. Three
new principal investigators are being hired, the first being S. Lee
Hong, Ph.D., associate professor of physiology in the Department of
Biomedical Sciences, whose main focus will be research on aging and
neurological changes over long spans of time, complementing the work
of OMNI’s six existing principal investigators.

The money earmarked for OMNI from the Osteopathic Heritage
Foundation’s gift will also help fund a new facility, which will be
designed to increase interdisciplinary collaboration by reducing
barriers among traditional scientific disciplines, enabling technological
breakthroughs difficult to achieve in conventional academic settings.

“Our general strategy and scope haven’t changed. Our vision is the
same, but the bar has been raised,” Dr. Clark said.

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