UNL, UNMC Awarding Joint Research Grants
Biomedical research is one of the nations top scientific priorities
and nets steady funding increases from Congress. The trend is likely to
continue in 2002, as the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the big
winner in President Bushs proposed budget, with a recommended 13.5 percent
increase. That translates into a $23.1 billion budget, much of it available
for grants to research institutions.
University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) and University of Nebraska Medical
Center (UNMC) researchers are joining forces to go after a larger share
of NIH funds. Both institutions currently have many NIH-funded projects,
but collaboration between their scientists has been a rarity. That is changing,
thanks to an internal seed grant program initiated by UNL and UNMC administrators.
Research is becoming a collaborative effort that cuts across many disciplines,
and this is especially true in biomedical research, said Prem Paul, Ph.D.,
Vice Chancellor for Research-designate at UNL. By combining the expertise
of UNL and UNMC, we can build stronger and more competitive research projects.
To encourage such collaborative work, UNL and UNMC recently co-sponsored
an internal grant competition, offering $150,000 in awards to the two winning
research proposals.
“The research power of both campuses will be improved dramatically by
increasing the number and size of our research collaborations,” said Thomas
Rosenquist, Ph.D., director of research development at UNMC. “These seed
grants are just the beginning of an exciting new era of cooperation between
UNMC and UNL.”
Dr. Rosenquist and Don Helmuth, Ph.D., UNL Interim Vice Chancellor
for Research, and coordinated the proposal competition, overseeing the
review and selection process and funding of the awards.
Each of the two winning proposal teams, one led by UNL Sociologist David
R. Johnson, Ph.D., and one led by UNMC Biochemist Eleanor G. Rogan, Ph.D.,
combined researchers from UNL and UNMC. The winning proposals were:
· Managing Infertility: Social Effects on Pathways and Psychological
Well-being, Principal Investigator David R. Johnson, Ph.D., Sociology,
UNL; team members: Julia McQuillan, Ph.D., Sociology, UNL; Janice J. Twiss,
Ph.D., College of Nursing, UNMC; Naomi Lacy, Ph.D., Family Medicine, UNMC.
Award: $50,000.
· Agrochemicals and Cancer: A Framework and P450 Expression,
Principal Investigator Eleanor G. Rogan, Ph.D., Eppley Institute for Research
in Cancer and Allied Diseases, UNMC; team members: Mohamed Fayad, Ph.D.,
Computer Science and Engineering, UNL; Roy Spalding, Ph.D., Water Sciences
Center, UNL; Alaa Badawi, Ph.D., Eppley Institute, UNMC; Ercole Cavalieri,
D.Sc., Eppley Institute, UNMC; Susanna Von Essen, M.D., Internal Medicine-Pulmonary,
UNMC. Award: $100,000.
The seed grants enable the research teams to generate the preliminary
results required for NIH proposals, but the money comes with strings attached
— the grantees must submit a full proposal for more than $1 million to
the NIH within 12 to 18 months of receiving the grant.
This pilot project will position us to seek NIH funding for a large
national interview survey that will further our knowledge about infertility
pathways and outcomes, Dr. Johnson said. Given that one American woman
in 10 is impaired in her fertility, it is surprising how little is known
about the decision-making process couples use in managing infertility.
Dr. Rogan said the collaborative seed grant brings three types of research
together to focus on exposure to agrochemicals as a risk factor in the
development of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. “The incidence of non-Hodgkin’s
lymphoma in the U.S. has increased, and persons in contact with agrochemicals
(herbicides and pesticides) may be at higher risk,” she said. “Exposure
to certain agrochemicals could start the process leading to lymphoma by
increasing the levels of particular enzymes in cells.”
The proposal teams grew out of a research forum UNL and UNMC co-sponsored
in July 2000, aimed at exploring areas of common research interest between
their scientists. More than 40 researchers attended the day-long meeting
at Mahoney State Park, which focused on five NIH priority funding areas:
molecular genetics, neurosciences, gene/environment interactions, ecology
of infectious diseases and health statistics/outcomes research.