Mission

The Frank Reidy Research Center for Bioelectrics (FRRCBE) exemplifies Old Dominion University's leadership role in this new field along with substantial federal agency support. The mission of the Center is to increase scientific knowledge and understanding of the interaction of electromagnetic fields and ionized gases with biological cells and to apply this knowledge to the development of medical diagnostics, therapeutics, and environmental decontamination. The objectives of the Center are to perform leading edge interdisciplinary and multi-institutional research, recruit top faculty and exceptional graduate students, support regional, national and international programs, and to increase external funding and institutional visibility.

Center for Bioelectrics

The center was developed as a research initiative of Old Dominion University in partnership with Eastern Virginia Medical School. Its mission is to increase scientific knowledge and understanding of how electromagnetic fields and ionized gases interact with biological cells and to apply this knowledge to the development of medical diagnostics and therapeutics, and to environmental decontamination.

The center is located on the fifth floor of the Norfolk Public Health Building in Norfolk, Virginia. Working closely within the center are Karl Schoenbach, Director, from the College of Engineering and Technology at Old Dominion University and Stephen Beebe and E. Stephen Buescher, both of the Center for Pediatric Research, a joint program of Eastern Virginia Medical School and Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters.

The objectives of the center are to perform leading edge interdisciplinary and multi-institutional research, recruit top faculty and exceptional graduate students, and support regional, national and international programs. Research conducted in bioelectrics has already attracted substantial federal agency support, including the award of a $5 million Multi-University Research Initiative grant, from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, in which Old Dominion is serving as the lead institution. As the first institutions to apply this technology in medicine and biology, Old Dominion and EVMS anticipate the potential for proprietary use of the technology, with both marketing and licensing opportunities. The Health Resources and Services Administration of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has provided funding for the construction of the new center. Additional funding in support of the center has been provided by private sources.