The University of Nebraska Medical Center has received a
five-year grant totaling almost $17 million from the National
Institutes of Health (NIH) to further its goal of building a statewide
biomedical research infrastructure among undergraduate and graduate
institutions. This is the largest grant in history received by UNMC.
“With the support of this grant we will be able to establish a platform
of scientists for the development of a 21st century biomedical
technology industry in Nebraska,” said Harold M. Maurer, M.D., UNMC
chancellor. “This speaks volumes about our researchers and their
talents and the collaborative relationships they have built with the
state’s undergraduate institutions. I applaud their efforts.”
Tom Rosenquist, Ph.D., vice chancellor for research, said: “We are
extremely pleased to have landed the largest NIH grant in Nebraska
history. This comes on the heels of UNMC setting a record of more than
$68 million in research grants during the past year, and it keeps us on
track to reach our goal of $100 million by the end of 2005.”
James Turpen, Ph.D., professor in the UNMC department of genetics, cell
biology and anatomy, is the principal investigator on the grant, which
is through the Institutional Development Award Program (IDeA) Networks
of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE). The grant, which totals
$16.9 million, comes from the National Center for Research Resources,
which is a division of the NIH.
“The whole idea is to expose students to serious biomedical research,”
Dr. Turpen said. “This is a statewide effort, with UNMC as the lead
institution, that will provide research opportunities for undergraduate
students and serve as a pipeline for those students to continue in
graduate research.”
Dr. Turpen said another major goal of the INBRE grant is to enhance the
science and technology knowledge of the state’s workforce, which will
hopefully attract more biotech industry to the state. It also will
provide support for core facilities in bioinformatics, proteomics and
microarray technology for biomedical research.
“Dr. Turpen is an outstanding scientist who has become a national
leader in the design and implementation of these kinds of programs,”
said Dr. Rosenquist. “We’ve been told that our grant application has
become the new standard by which other similar grant applications will
be measured in the future.”
This is the second NIH grant to support this effort. In 2001, UNMC
received nearly $8 million in funding over three years to create the
Biomedical Research Infrastructure Network (BRIN). The goal of the BRIN
program is to strengthen an organization’s infrastructure and increase
its capacity to conduct cutting-edge biomedical and behavioral research.
The number of undergraduate students participating in the BRIN program
has increased each year, Dr. Turpen said, with 15 students
participating the first year, 24 students the second year and 26
students the third year.
The students, who enter the BRIN program after they complete their
sophomore year of college, are recommended for the BRIN program by
their college professors. They come from 10 different undergraduate and
community college programs – the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the
University of Nebraska at Omaha, the University of Nebraska at Kearney,
Creighton University, Nebraska Wesleyan University, Doane College,
Chadron State College, Wayne State College, Priest Tribal College and
Western Nebraska Community College.
Each undergraduate school nominates approximately three students each
year for the program, Dr. Turpen said. Once in the BRIN program, the
students are given two-year scholarships worth $11,000. The scholarship
provides students with $2,500 during each of their next two
undergraduate years and $3,000 during each of their next two summers.
During the school year, the students conduct research on their home
campuses. During the summers, the students have the option of staying
on their home campus or coming to UNMC, UNL or Creighton and conducting
research.
For graduate students, the BRIN program can provide $20,000 in funding
for one year for up to 10 students per year. BRIN scholar, Kay
Crabtree, said she would not have been able to pursue her interest in a
research career if not for the support provided by the grant. Crabtree,
who received the $20,000 graduate stipend, is a graduate research
assistant working with Charles Wood, Ph.D., director of the Nebraska
Center for Virology and the Lehr/3M Professor in the department of
biological sciences at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
“The biggest benefit of this grant is that it increases awareness about
opportunities to do biomedical research in Nebraska among the state’s
undergraduates,” said Crabtree, who applied for a BRIN scholarship when
she was studying biology as a graduate student at the University of
Nebraska at Kearney.
A BRIN conference, showcasing the research work of undergraduate
students who are current BRIN scholars, will be held Aug. 11 and 12 in
Grand Island.