STERIS Renews Grant to University Hospitals of Cleveland for Infection Prevention Research

MENTOR, Ohio -- STERIS Corporation today announced it is renewing its grant to University Hospitals of Cleveland's Division of Infectious Diseases to support research in the area of hospital-acquired and emerging infections and the development of innovative strategies and technologies for preventing infection and contamination. The new grant of $300,000 will help sustain research over the next three years and builds upon a relationship that began with initial funding in 1999.

"We are pleased to continue our support of The Research Institute of University Hospitals of Cleveland," said Dr. Peter A. Burke, STERIS' senior vice president and chief technology officer. "As recent studies indicate, hospital-acquired and emerging infections are worldwide healthcare concerns that require the use of significant hospital staff and financial resources. We believe this research has the potential to produce new infection prevention techniques and treatments to help ensure better patient outcomes. This research may also lead to the development of new infection prevention technologies that can be used by researchers and scientists in many other key areas of interest to STERIS. We expect this relationship will continue to enhance the overall research programs of both STERIS Corporation and University Hospitals of Cleveland."

"This joint effort between STERIS Corporation and University Hospitals of Cleveland has been an enormous success and serves as a paradigm for relationships between industry and academia," said Robert Salata, MD, chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at University Hospitals of Cleveland. "Hospital-acquired infections are a growing problem around the country and it is important to continue investigating to learn how to better prevent and treat them."

Under the original STERIS grant, 12 research projects were funded for the treatment of emerging infections and improving infection prevention, involving hepatitis C, tuberculosis, sepsis syndrome and various other antibiotic resistant, hospital-acquired bacterial infections. Additionally, researchers assessed the impact of infections in such areas as the intensive care and bone marrow transplant units of numerous hospitals. The research has resulted in National Institutes of Health grants and six publications. The importance of these activities is reinforced by statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which estimate that 90,000 deaths in the year 2000 were linked to hospital infections, making them the fourth leading cause of death in the United States behind heart disease, cancer and strokes.

University Hospitals Health System (UHHS) is the region's premier healthcare delivery system, serving patients at more than 150 locations throughout northern Ohio. Committed to advanced care and advanced caring, University Hospitals Health System offers the region's largest network of primary care physicians, outpatient centers and hospitals. The System also includes a network of specialty care physicians, skilled nursing, elder health, rehabilitation and home care services, managed care and insurance programs, and the most comprehensive behavioral health services in the region.

STERIS Corporation is a leading provider of infection prevention, contamination prevention, microbial reduction, and surgical support systems, products, services, and technologies to healthcare, scientific, research, and industrial customers throughout the world. Additional information about STERIS can be found at www.steris.com.

Source: PRNewswire<$>