Wednesday, May 20, 2009

NIH puts up $18M to URI for biomed studies

By Brendan Lynch

The University of Rhode Island reports it has landed $18 million from the National Institutes of Health for biomedical research.

URI’s College of Pharmacy plans to use the grant to conduct research focused on molecular toxicology, cell biology and behavioral science. URI said the grant will also fund the recruitment and training of undergraduate and graduate students for careers in the biomedical and biotechnology fields, and continue faculty development and mentoring opportunities.

The five-year grant from the NIH’s National Center for Research Resources is the third the organization has given URI since 2001, bringing the total to $42 million. The earlier grants were used to acquire laboratory equipment and to establish collaborations among researchers at URI, Brown University, Rhode Island College, Providence College, Salve Regina University and Roger Williams University.

The previous grants also funded the renovation and expansion of research laboratories and student training facilities throughout the state, provided video conferencing at collaborating institutions for research and interactive participation in seminars and workshops, and provided partial support for the training of 10 postdoctoral fellows, 45 graduate students and more than 300 undergraduate students in the state.

According to URI, the earlier grants supported 45 faculty research projects that, in turn, led to the awarding of nearly $15 million in additional grants from NIH, the National Science Foundation, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the American Cancer Society, among others.