THIEL COLLEGE ANNOUNCES NEUROSCIENCE PARTNERSHIP WITH UPMC HORIZON, FHC INC.

For immediate release August 7, 2006

Thiel Receives $916,000 in State Funding for Neuroscience Academic Program

Thiel College President & CEO Dr. Lance A. Masters, neurosurgeon Dr. Donald Whiting, FHC Inc. President Frederick Haer, Pennsylvania state Sen. Robert D. Robbins (R-50), and UPMC Horizon President Dean Eckenrode.

GREENVILLE, PA – A partnership between Thiel College, UPMC Horizon and FHC Inc., will put Greenville on the cutting edge of medical science in the field of deep brain stimulation, Thiel College President and CEO Dr. Lance A. Masters announced at press conference Tuesday at Thiel College.

Details of a neuroscience partnership came following an announcement by state Sen. Robert D. Robbins (R-50) that Thiel College will be the recipient of a $916,000 grant through the Pennsylvania Department of Education’s Higher Education Assistance Grant Program.  The state funds represent the largest academic grant in the college’s history and will be used to fund a new Neuroscience Program at Thiel College.

The academic program is just one aspect of the joint neuroscience project that Thiel, UPMC Horizon, FHC Inc. and Greenville Area Economic Development Center (GAEDC) have been actively engaged in pursuing over the past year, Masters said.

The cooperative plan will establish not only an academic program in neuroscience at Thiel, Masters said, but the development of the downtown-based Greenville Neuromodulation Clinic, owned by FHC. Inc., a world leader in the field of manufacturing medical equipment for targeting disfunctioning brain structures for Activa R deep brain stimulation (DBS) therapy using devices developed and marketed by Medtronic, Inc., the Fortune 500 cardiac pacemaker manufacturer.

The Greenville Neuromodulation Clinic, which is planned to be located in the Packard Building  located on Greenville’s Main Street, will coordinate pre- and post-operative treatment and training to patients and their families suffering from the debilitating symptoms of movement disorders, said FHC President Frederick Haer. The current focus of the treatment is for patients who suffer from Parkinson’s disease, essential tremor, and dystonia; Medtronic is actively supporting research to develop other indications for use as well.

FHC Inc. has recently received FDA and EU clearance to use its microTargeting® Platform, an innovative surgical positioning device and planning system, that has the potential to reduce the long surgical procedure as well as improve patient comfort and outcomes.

“With this new technology, we believe deep brain stimulation (DBS) becomes a viable option for a far greater number of patients” said Haer.  “The Greenville UPMC-Horizon facility has the perfect complement of services, Radiology, Surgery,  Neurology, and Rehabilitation Therapy, to support the comprehensive program developed by Dr. Donald Whiting and the suburban setting should be very appealing compared to the large metropolitan location of current treatment facilities which offer less comprehensive programs.”

Three top neurosurgeons specializing in movement disorders and deep brain stimulation—Dr. Donald M. Whiting, Dr. Michael Y. Oh and Dr. David Benjamin Cohen, all affiliated with The Neurosurgery Group of Western Pennsylvania—have applied for privileges at UPMC Horizon, said UPMC Horizon President Dean Eckenrode.

The Greenville Neuromodulation Clinic will also offer physician training to medical personnel from around the world who will come to Greenville to learn about this emerging specialization.

Under the partnership, Masters said, Thiel College students will have invaluable contact with world class researchers and surgeons and access to the latest in research technology.

In turn the Greenville Neuromodulation Clinic will receive innumerable benefits by having an academic affiliation including shared research and lab space, the intellectual capital of all partners including members of the UPMC Horizon, FHC and Thiel staffs for consultation on emerging issues in this dynamic field and a feeder system for qualified, certified employees.

“In addition to the formal classroom activities that will occur, another positive outcome of this distinctive partnership is the opportunities for extensive collaborative research,” said Masters. Students, faculty, scientists, and physicians are planning to do extensive research on the current and possible uses and implications of deep brain stimulation including both the physical and psychological implications.

With the creation of the clinic, Thiel and FHC Inc. will also partner to provide training and certification in the techniques of electrophysiological monitoring, measurements, interpretation and the programming of DBS generator-units for medical personnel from around the world.