Zucker Institute for Applied Neuroscience and MUSC Foundation for Research Development announce consolidation

The newly formed Zucker Institute for Innovation Commercialization will enable the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) to continue to support the endeavors of inventive employees and students in a more effective way

CHARLESTON, S.C. (July 14, 2022) - The Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) Zucker Institute for Applied Neuroscience (ZIAN) and MUSC Foundation for Research Development (FRD) have announced they will be joining forces and will begin collectively doing business as the “Zucker Institute for Innovation Commercialization” effective immediately.

The new combined institute solidifies MUSC’s commercialization efforts into a single more powerful engine with an increased ability to execute on its mission of facilitating the creation of new products and services that improve lives.

“The reorganization of the teams into the unified Zucker Institute for Innovation Commercialization positions the organization for growth and scale,” said Jesse Goodwin, chief innovation officer at MUSC. Goodwin will chair the board of directors for ZI after having served as deputy director of the FRD as well as chair of the board for ZIAN. “This new institute will continue to support the endeavors of MUSC’s inventive employees and students, such that their ideas become products and services generating meaningful impact.”

The reorganization creates a new tech-transfer group that will act as a component of the Office of Innovation at MUSC as it looks to continue to build a culture of innovation around the enterprise that is nationally recognized. The group will be tasked with translating MUSC’s intellectual property-backed scholarly research, clinical and education efforts into products used beyond MUSC. 

“Innovation is our fuel here at MUSC; it’s part of our core in changing what’s possible,” said MUSC President David J. Cole, M.D., FACS. “We want to continue to facilitate the development of processes, technologies and strategies that produce real-world, beneficial impact for those that we serve, and this component of the Office of Innovation will ensure that it continues.”

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About MUSC 

Founded in 1824 in Charleston, MUSC is the state’s only comprehensive academic health system, with a unique mission to preserve and optimize human life in South Carolina through education, research and patient care. Each year, MUSC educates more than 3,000 students in six colleges – Dental Medicine, Graduate Studies, Health Professions, Medicine, Nursing and Pharmacy – and trains more than 850 residents and fellows in its health system. MUSC brought in more than $327.6 million in research funds in fiscal year 2021, leading the state overall in research funding. MUSC also leads the state in federal and National Institutes of Health funding, with more than $220 million. For information on academic programs, visit musc.edu.

As the health care system of the Medical University of South Carolina, MUSC Health is dedicated to delivering the highest quality and safest patient care while educating and training generations of outstanding health care providers and leaders to serve the people of South Carolina and beyond. Patient care is provided at 14 hospitals with approximately 2,500 beds and five additional hospital locations in development; more than 350 telehealth sites, with connectivity to patients’ homes; and nearly 750 care locations situated in all regions of South Carolina. In 2021, for the seventh consecutive year, U.S. News & World Report named MUSC Health the No. 1 hospital in South Carolina. To learn more about clinical patient services, visit muschealth.org.

MUSC and its affiliates have collective annual budgets totaling $4.4 billion. The nearly 25,000 MUSC team members include world-class faculty, physicians, specialty providers, scientists, students, affiliates and care team members who deliver and support groundbreaking education, research, and patient care.