As of January 1, 2016, the Southwest Michigan Innovation Center (SMIC) is now owned and operated by Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine.
In July 2015 it was announced that the medical school was acquiring the SMIC, located in Western Michigan University’s Business, Technology and Research Park. The 69,000-square-foot facility was designed to nurture the formation and growth of innovative, entrepreneurial life-science businesses. It is currently home to 18 client companies engaged in a variety of laboratory research endeavors. The SMIC resides in a state-designated, tax-advantaged SmartZone.
Part of the medical school’s plan is to expand its research footprint and portfolio. The SMIC facility will supplement the two research floors at the W.E. Upjohn M.D. Campus by providing incubator/partnership space, which serves to advance research discoveries to commercialization. It also increases opportunities for research experiences for medical students and residents, which is required for accreditation of the medical school’s educational programs. There are currently 11 researchers from companies based at SMIC who are appointed to the medical school faculty
Dr. Hal Jenson, dean of the medical school, said in July that aligning the SMIC with the medical school is a "win-win."
“The acquisition of the SMIC is an important step in the medical school’s development, especially as part of our research strategy,” said Jenson. “It also helps the medical school meet accreditation requirements for laboratory‑based research and a culture of discovery at WMed. The role of SMIC in providing incubator/partnership space for development and commercialization is an important component of the medical school’s long‑term research strategy.”
“The School of Medicine and the Innovation Center will have the opportunity to seek wide-ranging research partnerships that are mutually beneficial,” says Rob DeWit, former SMIC president and CEO. “The late-stage research occurring at the Innovation Center can engender a culture of translational medicine as the medical school recruits faculty talent, and in turn, the faculty can support the research conducted by startup companies by providing the basic research tools often needed in the commercialization process. The potential is tremendous,” DeWit said. “With the medical school, the current contract research organizations at the Innovation Center, and the depth of life science expertise in Kalamazoo, we are very well positioned to attract young, middle-aged, and advanced medical school researchers to the School of Medicine and the Innovation Center.”
“The successful platform of the Southwest Michigan Innovation Center will be richly enhanced through its new alignment within WMed,” said Donald R. Parfet, former chairman of the Southwest Michigan Innovation Center Board of Managing Directors. “The original scope of the SMIC effort was to attract and retain world-class scientists as they continued their pursuit of new medicines, diagnostics, and medical technologies. With the advent of WMed and its emerging basic research activities there will be even more commercialization efforts passing through the laboratories of SMIC in the future. There is a strong alignment of mission and purpose between SMIC and WMed. This is an exciting time to enter and thrive in the field of medicine in Kalamazoo.”