Legislative panel OKs funds for Medical College

The Wisconsin Legislature's Joint Committee on Finance has recommended the approval of $10 million for new equipment for neuroscience research at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Wauwatosa.

In March, Gov. Jim Doyle proposed giving $10 million in state funding to the Medical College to expand the neuroscience core of its Translational Research Program. The funding would support the purchase of a new high-field 7 Tesla MRI, long-bore scanner for human subject research. The equipment would be purchased from GE Healthcare of Waukesha.

State Sen. Ted Kanavas (R-Brookfield), a member of the State Building Commission that previously approved the proposed funding, applauded the Thursday recommendation. The funding must still receive the approval of the Legislature.

"It is important that Wisconsin remains at the cutting edge of biomedical research and that we support institutions like the Medical College of Wisconsin," Kanavas said in a statement.

The proposed scanner will significantly enhance the scope of the Medical College's neuroscience research, according to a statement from the college. The resolution of the equipment is significantly higher than what is currently available, and would allow researchers to see a much finer level of detail of brain activity in a shorter timeframe. The equipment will allow researchers to see activity in the brain at the molecular level, allowing for the tracking of brain chemistry.

In a statement, Jim Leonhart, executive vice president of the Wisconsin Biotechnology & Medical Device Association, said that the funding will advance the Medical College's national and international leadership in functional magnetic resonance imaging.

"The Medical College intends to collaborate with GE Healthcare on the refinement of its technology through the use of GE's new, cutting-edge imaging system that provides a much clearer, noninvasive picture of what's going on in the brain," Leonhart said. "This is the kind of academic-private-sector partnership that is important to the growth of the industry in southeastern Wisconsin and across the state."