Midwest Centers of Excellence in Life Sciences Exploration

The Midwest is home to many of the nation's life sciences centers of excellence, including top-ranked universities, research institutes, medical centers and major pharmaceutical, medical device and biotechnology companies.

Top-Ranked Medical Institutions

According to U.S. News and World Report, the Midwest has many of the nation's leading healthcare and life sciences research institutions, including:

  • 1 of the top 3 U.S. medical schools
  • 3 of the top 6 U.S. hospitals
  • Top 2 U.S. heart hospitals
Centers of Excellence
  • Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine is ranked among the top three in the country, and 17 of the University's graduate programs are ranked in the top 10, according to U.S. News and World Report. The medical school is associated with Barnes-Jewish Hospital, which is ranked 6th on the U.S. News Honor Roll of Hospitals. The School of Medicine received over $368 million in research funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in 2003.
     
  • The Genome Sequencing Center at Washington University in St. Louis is one of five major centers around the world that form the core of the Human Genome Project.
     
  • The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, conducts interdisciplinary research in genetics, chemistry, cell biology, biochemistry, computational genomics and structural biology. The Center, through its $7 million facility, provides a unique setting for determining the function of genes, thereby increasing knowledge of the biological role they play in the development, growth and survival of plants.
     
  • The Stowers Institute for Medical Research in Kansas City has a $515 million endowment that has attracted world-class scientists. Initially, the Institute is focusing on research that seeks to identify and understand the genes and proteins that govern early development of the organism, with a view to understanding many diseases caused by malfunctioning genes and proteins in later life.
     
  • The applied research department of the Missouri Botanical Garden has the most experienced and respected bioprospecting team in the world. The Garden has collected more than 40,000 plant samples in over nine nations for evaluation in pharmaceutical, nutritional and agricultural research programs, with the potential to create new medicines, improve existing crops and fight agricultural pests.
     
  • The Higuchi Biosciences Center for Drug Delivery Research at the University of Kansas is a family of life sciences research initiatives, creating technology that will become available for commercial licensing.
     
  • The University of Chicago has an annual life sciences research budget that exceeds $250 million. The University has pioneered a variety of commercially important discoveries, including the first sustained nuclear reaction, the isolation of erythropoietin and proinsulin, and the mathematical foundations of genetic evolution.
     
  • Northwestern University in Chicago has an annual life sciences research and sponsored projects budget that exceeds $210 million and recently launched two new research institutes—the Institute for Bioengineering and Nanoscience in Advanced Medicine and the Nanotechnology Institute.
     
  • University of Michigan's Life Sciences Initiative is a campus-wide effort to coordinate and expand top-ranked research and teaching in rapidly advancing fields like genomics, cognitive neuroscience, bioinformatics and biotechnology. The State of Michigan has earmarked a total of $1 billion over 20 years to fund the statewide Life Sciences Corridor.
     
  • The Mayo Clinic & Foundation for Medical Education and Research based in Minnesota, is ranked the second best U.S. hospital by U.S. News and World Report.
     
  • The Cleveland Clinic Foundation is ranked the fourth-best U.S. hospital, according to U.S. News and World Report. The Cleveland Clinic Heart Center, for the eighth consecutive year, was ranked best in the country, and 10 other specialties were cited in the top 10.

Life Sciences Companies

The Midwest is home to hundreds of life sciences companies. Missouri, alone, has more than 100 life sciences companies, placing it in the top third of all U.S. states, according to a survey by Genetic Engineering News. These companies include Pfizer (formerly Pharmacia Corporation), Monsanto Company, Tyco International Ltd. (formerly Mallinckrodt, Inc.), and Sigma-Aldrich Inc. Other significant life sciences companies in the Midwest include Medtronic in Minneapolis, Eli Lilly in Indianapolis, and Abbott Laboratories and Baxter International near Chicago.

RiverVest Venture Partners®

Headquartered in St. Louis, RiverVest Venture Partners is eager to support the Midwest's growing contribution to the life sciences industry. The RiverVest principals have a track record of:

  • successfully founding and building companies;
  • attracting investment from other top-tier venture capital firms; and
  • collaborating with the investment banking and analyst communities.


©2005 RiverVest Venture Management, LLC
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