For Ohioans stories

Dr. Melissa Bailey, a former Ohio State Innovator of the Year, is working on two breakthrough products that could make a major difference for people around the world with unaddressed vision needs. “I feel a really strong personal sense that I have talents and I need to use them to make the world a better place,” she says.

David Hibler ’12, ’20 MS has spent two decades supporting his military brothers and sisters. Now, he's working as a liaison between the veterans community and researchers seeking to improve health care services for those who have suffered traumatic brain injuries in the military.

Parents of children with rare, incurable diseases have long had to deal with dual sources of hopelessness: the helpless feeling that their child was sick, and the compounding dread of knowing that few treatments were likely forthcoming. Dr. Krystof Bankiewicz, who has deep roots in the field of gene therapy, helped develop a therapy that is bringing the ability to walk and talk to children around the world who were born with neither.

Within the past decade, cardiologists and other clinicians began to notice a puzzling trend. A small percentage of their patients who had previously been treated for cancers were developing heart conditions. Since then, Ohio State’s Sakima Smith and others in his research program have been making huge strides in the emerging field of cardio-oncology.

In the nearly two years since Nakia Bridges’ concussion, she has regularly experienced severe symptoms such as memory loss, distorted vision and debilitating issues with balance and concentration, to name a few. Not to mention the financial challenges, anxiety and depression that come with forced medical leave from employment. But with help from Ohio State's Lise Worthen-Chaudhari, she's making incredible strides in her recovery.