COLUMBUS, Ohio--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Nationwide Foundation today announced a new $10 million gift for the Nationwide Pediatric Innovation Fund at Nationwide Children’s Hospital to help make significant progress toward important research in genomics.
The Nationwide Pediatric Innovation Fund was established by the Nationwide Foundation in 2014 with an initial gift of $10 million to accelerate the most promising pediatric research and clinical discoveries at Nationwide Children’s Hospital.
“Nationwide and the Nationwide Foundation are proud of our ongoing commitment to Nationwide Children’s Hospital. The work being done through the Nationwide Pediatric Innovation Fund supports our shared vision of providing the best possible outcomes for children everywhere,” said Nationwide Chief Executive Officer Steve Rasmussen. “This gift supports innovative technologies that will allow doctors to improve the speed and accuracy of medical diagnosis, potentially saving lives of children around the world.”
In its first year, the Fund supported several key clinical and research efforts in heart health, neonatology, injury prevention and genomics. These newest funds will be predominantly directed toward the genomics research center at Nationwide Children’s Hospital to accelerate the acquisition of equipment and technology to conduct important studies in genomics—or the complex study of human DNA—with renowned scientists in world-class facilities.
This work will allow doctors to more quickly diagnose patients and more accurately treat diseases affecting children with an ultimate goal of preventing these conditions from ever occurring. What’s more is that Nationwide Children’s Hospital will be able to share the capabilities of this research with doctors across the medical profession to treat patients around the world.
Advancements in genomic analysis already made at Nationwide Children’s have allowed researchers to better understand human genomes and their impact on patients up to 70 times faster than ever before with one percent of the personnel and cost savings of up to 99.3 percent. The next step is to broadly translate this knowledge into everyday patient care.
“Nationwide Foundation’s ongoing, extremely generous support has uniquely positioned Nationwide Children’s to assume a leadership role in this new era of genomic-based medicine,” said Steve Allen, MD, Nationwide Children’s CEO. “Genomics is the new frontier for the diagnosis, care and even possibly prevention of many diseases – the key to personalized or ‘precision’ medicine. We are poised to make precision medicine a routine part of pediatric and adult health care, as well as solve some of our greatest population health puzzles. The return on Nationwide Pediatric Innovation Fund’s investment will change the global approach to medicine and research.”
With this gift, advancing work in precision medicine and genomics can accelerate by adding research talent for the program and acquiring state-of-the-art genome sequencing equipment. This will allow the hospital to be among the first in the nation with such highly advanced technology used for genomic research. This year’s gift also includes the largest single-year donation from the Nationwide Foundation in support of childhood injury prevention.
In 2006, the Nationwide Foundation committed $50 million to the hospital to support clinical and research priorities including cardiology, neonatology and injury prevention. Through this funding, the hospital has recruited world-renowned talent, expanded its main campus and dedicated a third building to research that allows families to receive the highest caliber care, information and support during their child’s stay at Nationwide Children’s Hospital.
Nationwide Children’s Hospital has also benefited from Nationwide’s sports marketing sponsorships. Combined efforts through the Memorial Tournament, Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship, Legend’s Luncheon, Nationwide Children’s Hospital Columbus Marathon, and the Nationwide Children’s Hospital 200 NASCAR race at MidOhio have helped raise more than $3 million annually for the Hospital.
“Through this collaborative effort and shared vision, we laid the groundwork to establish a national center of excellence in world class facilities where important work is being conducted to significantly improve the lives of children,” said Chad Jester, president, Nationwide Foundation. “This gift creates a pathway for making this powerful mission a reality for children and families around the world.”
About Nationwide Children’s Hospital
Nationwide Children’s
Hospital is nationally recognized as one of only 10 children's hospitals
on U.S. News & World Report’s 2014-15 “America’s Best
Children’s Hospitals Honor Roll” and among the Top 10 on Parents magazine’s
2013 “Best Children’s Hospitals” list. One of the nation’s largest
not-for-profit freestanding pediatric healthcare networks, Nationwide
Children’s provides care for infants, children and adolescents as well
as adult patients with congenital disease. As home to the Department of
Pediatrics of The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Nationwide
Children’s faculty train the next generation of pediatricians,
scientists and pediatric specialists. The Research Institute at
Nationwide Children’s Hospital is one of the Top 10 National Institutes
of Health-funded free-standing pediatric research facilities in the
U.S., supporting basic, clinical, translational and health services
research at Nationwide Children’s. The Research Institute encompasses
three research facilities totaling 525,000 square feet dedicated to
research. More information is available at
NationwideChildrens.org/Research.
About Nationwide Foundation
The Nationwide Foundation is an
independent corporation funded by contributions from Nationwide
companies. Founded in 1959, the Nationwide Insurance Foundation has
committed more than $345 million since 2000 to help nonprofit
organizations in communities where Nationwide associates and their
families live and work. Just as Nationwide supports its customers in
their moment of need, the company’s involvement in its home communities
is focused on supporting organizations that help people facing critical
or immediate need.
About Nationwide
Nationwide, a Fortune 100 company based in
Columbus, Ohio, is one of the largest and strongest diversified
insurance and financial services organizations in the U.S. and is rated
A+ by both A.M. Best and Standard & Poor’s. The company provides a full
range of insurance and financial services, including auto, commercial,
homeowners, farm and life insurance; public and private sector
retirement plans, annuities and mutual funds; banking and mortgages;
pet, motorcycle and boat insurance. For more information, visit www.nationwide.com.
Nationwide, Nationwide Financial, On Your Side, and the Nationwide N and Eagle are service marks of Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company.
