The University of Nebraska Medical Center has received two grants totaling $255,445 from the University of Nebraska Foundation to acquire and upgrade research equipment. The annual grants are made available from unrestricted donations to the foundation.
“These grants help enhance the infrastructure required to support nationally competitive research programs,” said Paula Turpen, Ph.D., UNMC director of research resources. “This funding helps to increase our prominence as a health sciences center and allows the university to further advance the frontiers of science and technology.”
Over the past 10 years, funding for research has increased at the UNMC campus, from about $27 million in 1997 to $80 million last year—a span of 10 years.
“The NU Foundation awards are especially important during periods when the budget of the National Institutes of Health is static or declining, such as we are now experiencing,” Dr. Turpen said. “We are proud of our accomplishment in attracting research funding, but since research growth is dependent on providing investigators access to quality equipment in the medical center’s research core facilities, these awards become even more valuable.”
Below are the items funded.
Automated Tissue Microarray System ($200,000): Prostate cancer is the most frequently diagnosed malignancy in North American men, the second leading cause of cancer death in men, and a major health issue in the western world. A tissue microarray, currently not available at UNMC, will be used to study the connection between inflammation and prostate cancer. A strong connection between local inflammation and cancer risk has been shown for other types of cancer, but there is little information with respect to this specific malignancy.
Prostate cancer is currently under investigation by eight researchers at UNMC, who together receive $6.1 million in annual funding from the National Institutes of Health.
“Microarrays are used to evaluate changes in gene expression of cells and tissues,” Dr. Turpen said. “The microarray technology will be useful to many campus investigators who study cancer and other disease processes where information about changes in gene expression provides clues for the development of new therapies.”
Ultramicrotome ($55,445): Extremely thin slices of tissue are needed before they can be evaluated using a high-power electron microscope, a tool that magnifies images up to 60,000 times by passing an electron beam through a very thin slice of tissue. These thin slices can only be made with a tool called a microtome, which uses diamond knives to cut precisely.
A new ultramicrotome will replace a 20-year-old device in the Core Electron Microscopy Facility, which currently supports 15 investigators who receive annual funding of $11.8 million and conduct research programs in cancer, diabetes, nanomedicine, respiratory disease, genetics, neuroscience, infectious diseases and bioterrorism.
Researchers at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Boys Town National Research Hospital and Creighton University also use the Electron Microscopy Facility.
Eight grants funded across NU
The University of Nebraska Foundation’s grants committee awarded eight grants, including the UNMC grants, across the university totaling $1.16 million for 2007-2008.
The University of Nebraska Foundation’s grants committee awarded eight grants, including the UNMC grants, across the university totaling $1.16 million for 2007-2008.
“The quality of the research and educational activities conducted by the University of Nebraska continues to achieve higher levels of excellence,” said Grants Committee Chairwoman Veronica Haggart, a University of Nebraska graduate and St. Paul, Neb., native. “The programs selected for funding by the grants committee will benefit students and faculty while also helping to bring national recognition to the university and the state.”
Grant applications were submitted to James B. Milliken, president of the University of Nebraska, from the chancellors, who were instructed that grant proposals must be tied to campus priorities and the university-wide strategic framework. It was then the job of the foundation’s grants committee, a group of 13 volunteers from across the state and country, to make final recommendations to the foundation’s board of directors.
The University of Nebraska Foundation is an independent, nonprofit organization raising private gifts to support the University of Nebraska for more than 70 years. More than $87 million was provided last year for students, faculty, academic programs, research and building and campus capital improvements. More information is available at www.nufoundation.org.
UNMC is the only public health science center in the state. Its educational programs are responsible for training more health professionals practicing in Nebraska than any other institution. Through their commitment to education, research, patient care and outreach, UNMC and its hospital partner, The Nebraska Medical Center, have established themselves as one of the country’s leading centers in cancer, transplantation biology, bioterrorism preparedness, neurodegenerative diseases, cardiovascular diseases, genetics, biomedical technology and ophthalmology. UNMC’s research funding from external sources now exceeds $80 million annually and has resulted in the creation of more than 2,400 highly skilled jobs in the state. UNMC’s physician practice group, UNMC Physicians, includes more than 460 physicians in 50 specialties and subspecialties who practice primarily in The Nebraska Medical Center. For more information, go to UNMC’s Web site at www.unmc.edu.