What is a SC SmartState Center?

In 2002, the South Carolina General Assembly had the vision to establish the SmartState Program, funding it with proceeds from the South Carolina Education Lottery. The legislation authorizes the state’s three public research institutions—Clemson University, the Medical University of South Carolina and the University of South Carolina—to use state lottery funds to create Centers of Economic Excellence in research areas that will advance South Carolina’s economy. 

Today there are nearly 50 SmartState Centers in six industry-focused Smart Clusters that are critical to the world and South Carolina: Advanced Materials & Nanotechnology, Automotive and Transportation, Biomedical, Future Fuels®, Information Science, and Pharmaceutical. Each Center is awarded from $2 million to $5 million in state lottery funds, which must be matched on a dollar-for-dollar basis with non-state funds from corporations or other entities.

The program also supports SmartState Endowed Chairs, world-renowned scientists and engineers who lead the Centers. By investing in talent and technology, the SmartState Program is fueling the state’s knowledge economy and creating high-paying jobs and an improved standard of living in South Carolina.

 

The SC Center for Effectiveness Research in Orthopaedics SmartState Center (CERortho) 

CERortho includes academic faculty, clinicians, industrial researchers, graduate students, medical residents, and other orthopaedic fellows engaged in advancing orthopaedic health and wellness through research, education, outreach and clinical translation. Areas of expertise in the Center include basic orthopaedic science and engineering, exercise science, and physical therapy, epidemiology and patient population studies, surgery, rehabilitation, and creation of new biologic products for clinical use.