OU-HCOM faculty
increases federal research funds
College researchers awarded five grants from
national agencies
By Matt Bates
September 18,
2009
As the
stumbling economy threatens government funding,
the Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic
Medicine (OU-HCOM) faculty have actually
increased their federal funding. Just since July
1, national science and health agencies have
awarded six new grants, totaling nearly
$1,000,000, to fuel OU-HCOM faculty research
projects.
Recipients include:
-
Karen Coschigano, Ph.D., and Ramiro
Malgor, M.D., both assistant professors
of biomedical sciences
$16,101, National Institute
of Health (NIH)
“Cross-talk between growth
hormone and inflammation pathways in kidney
damage”
-
Timothy Heckman, Ph.D., professor of
geriatric medicine
$371,573, NIH
“Telephone-delivered coping
improvement intervention for HIV-infected older
adults”
$22,125, NIH
“Mechanisms of prostate
cancer prevention by down-regulation of the GH/IGF
axis”
-
Yang Li, Ph.D., associate professor of
biomedical sciences
$221,250, NIH
“Elevated zinc in ischemia
and reperfusion”
-
Nancy Stevens, Ph.D., assistant
professor of biomedical sciences
$180,000, National Science
Foundation (NSF)
“Early career: Acquisition of
paleobiological specimen preparation and imaging
facility”
-
Larry Witmer, Ph.D., professor of
biomedical sciences
$180,000, NSF
“Brain evolution in
Archosaurs: New implications for scaling,
function, and the evolution of the modern
conditions in birds and crocodilians”
The
grants awarded to Stevens and to the team of
Coschigano and Malgor both were part of the
recently created American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act (ARRA), signed into law by
President Obama earlier this year. These grants
are part of more than $5,000,000 ARRA funds
awarded to Ohio University faculty members since
February.
“We’re
very proud of our faculty dedication to
research,” said Christine Knisely,
director of the Office of Research and Grants at
OU-HCOM. She explained that, although this
stimulus act funnels more money toward research,
it also has raised the number of grant
applicants, making the funds more competitive.
Knisely
attributes OU-HCOM researchers’ success to two
factors: increased research productivity among
faculty members and their growing familiarity
with the grant proposal process. (All five
recipients have applied for and won federal
grants in the past.)
Faculty
members are submitting more proposals than
before, especially during the past fiscal year.
In 2009, OU-HCOM researchers submitted 81
research grants, requesting $32,800,000, up from
68 proposals requesting $11,110,000 last year.
Among
the proposals submitted this year, 66 percent
were sent to federal agencies like the NSF and
NIH. Currently, OU-HCOM faculty members have 45
proposals still under consideration for
government funding.
