UW Awarded Three Year $6 Million Grant From NIH

Oct. 22, 2001-- The University of Wyoming has been awarded a three year, $6 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to strengthen its biomedical research capabilities and expertise.

UW is among 24 institutions in the United States and Puerto Rico to receive the grants, which are aimed at bolstering research at institutions traditionally underfunded by NIH. The funding is intended to establish a biomedical research infrastructure network, or BRIN, which will allow UW to improve laboratory equipment, recruit faculty, and develop computational systems to store and serve biomedical research information.

"This is an incredible opportunity for the university," says Robert Kelley, dean of UW's College of Health Sciences and principal investigator for the BRIN grant. "It will help us expand areas of interdisciplinary expertise, such as neuroscience, reproductive biology, and microbiology. By strengthening our research infrastructure, we will be able to attract better faculty, post doctoral students, and graduate students. This can help us make a quantum leap forward in biomedical research, and to sustain that effort.

"The entire university will benefit from this grant," he says. "In the last two years, NIH has invested $17 million in UW because they see undeveloped potential for biomedical research in the institution. We already were strong in this area, and the BRIN grant will assist the university to become even more competitive."

Last year, the university received two five year NIH grants totaling nearly $11 million to establish interdisciplinary centers for biomedical research excellence (COBRE). One group, headed by chemistry professor Scott Bohle, was awarded $6.9 million to study the biological effects of nitric oxide in the human body. Another team of UW scientists, led by Bill Flynn, a professor in the Department of Zoology and Physiology and head of the university's neuroscience program, was awarded $4.7 million to study stressors - such as high salt intake and a decrease in oxygen availability - that can contribute to the progression of cardiovascular disease.

Kelley says both Bohle and Flynn were instrumental in helping to secure the latest NIH grant, with the assistance of UW grant writer Fred Van Den Heede and the Office of Research. He adds that the university plans to work with other COBRE groups at the University of Idaho and University of Montana to form a regional network that can share biomedical research resources and information.

Bill Gern, UW vice president for research, says the university has started to focus on programs of research that are funded by the NIH. "Our goal is to develop a strong base of researchers with single-investigator-initiated awards from NIH," Gern says. "With this base, we intend to identify major program areas in which multiple investigators can be successful in obtaining multiple-year awards. Receiving funding for the BRIN and the two COBRES provides critical infrastructure needed by UW to move forward in biomedical research."

BRIN funding will be used, in part, to purchase instrumentation that will broaden the range of analytical and synthetic chemistry at UW, Kelley says. The grant also will help upgrade the university's microscopy facilities and renovate labs to make better use of space.

Posted on Monday, October 22, 2001