State approves health care center for economic research

South Carolina will get a new Research Center for Economic Excellence that will focus translational research, which takes scientific discoveries and translates them into practical treatments for patients.

The review board that oversees the state’s endowed research program voted for the health care center, which is being established through the state’s Endowed Chairs program known as Research Centers for Economic Excellence. The program, established by the state legislature in 2002, matches state funds with private contributions to create endowed professorships in areas that might enhance economic opportunities in South Carolina.

The Health Sciences South Carolina Center of Economic Excellence will analyze recent scientific discoveries and technological advances as well as the state’s resources and characteristics as it researches major health problems affecting South Carolina residents.

Center for Healthcare Quality will be the clinical research and clinical practice arm of Health Sciences South Carolina, a partnership between the state’s major research systems: Clemson University, the Medical University of South Carolina, the University of South Carolina, the Greenville Hospital System, Palmetto Health and the Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System. The institutions formed a collaboration in 2004 to advance health sciences and research in South Carolina.

Researchers at CHQ will study the best ways to create, integrate and extract information from large data systems in order to manage disease, patient care quality, health care financing and system reform.