Contact: Louise DuPont

The partner universities include UK, the University of Cincinnati, University of Louisville, and Wright State University.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 21, 2005) -- Joseph L. Fink III, professor of pharmacy at the University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy, was recognized by the Ohio Valley Affiliates for Life Sciences (OVALS) for his role as a founder of the organization and leadership as a member of the Steering Committee from 2002 to 2005.

He received the award at OVALS’ Third Annual Conference in Dayton, Ohio. OVALS was created in 2002 as a forum to discuss and stimulate economic development opportunities for life sciences within the Ohio Valley region.

The goals of the partnership are to increase regional visibility for existing life sciences assets; open new opportunities for collaboration across research institutions, industry and federal labs; and expand and create new regional economic development initiatives in the life sciences arena.

The OVALS’ mission is to promote scientific collaboration among the area’s research institutions, related industry, and economic development groups in order to expand research directions, open new funding avenues, and increase commercialization of the resultant new technologies.

The partner universities include UK, the University of Cincinnati, University of Louisville, and Wright State University. The founding-partner universities attract and expend approximately $650 million per year on basic and applied research, which generates over 240 intellectual property disclosures per year.