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UNC Research Draws Big Bucks From NIH

The sum is a funding increase of 20 percent from last year's NIH grant total of $171.3 million, placing UNC 13th in the nation among public and private universities for NIH grants.

NIH grants are awarded after scientific experts nationwide review universities' research programs, said School of Medicine Dean Jeffrey Houpt.

"The NIH funding, because it is peer review, is a legitimate indicator of the quality of research that goes on in an institution," he said.

All of UNC's health sciences schools were ranked in the top 25 nationwide for NIH grants, with the schools of Dentistry, Nursing and Public Health in the top five. These UNC schools were joined in the NIH's rankings by other prominent research institutions such as Johns Hopkins and Harvard universities.

"We clearly are considered one of the leading public research universities in the U.S.," said John Stamm, dean of the School of Dentistry. "The increase we're seeing, I think, significantly strengthens our presence in molecular biology, genomics and some of the scientific fields that are emerging."

Houpt said a fair amount of the NIH grants were related to areas close to genomics. Some of the money will go to equipment for the genomics initiative -- a project that Chancellor James Moeser announced in February.

The initiative, which will intensify UNC's focus on genomic research, is backed by $245 million in public and private donations and includes faculty from all five health sciences schools.

The College of Arts and Sciences, the School of Information and Library Science and the School of Law will also participate in the initiative.

In addition to genomics, the NIH grant money will be used to research topics ranging from tissue engineering to tropical diseases. Many of the research areas involve collaboration between different schools at the University.

This spirit of collaboration is being rewarded by the NIH, said Sherrie Settle, administrative director for graduate education and research in the School of Pharmacy. She said the NIH is showing a tendency to support cooperative grants, in which several disciplines work together.

Several University health affairs administrators described UNC as a model for interdisciplinary work. "Most everybody who has worked at another university and comes to Chapel Hill points out that it is easier to collaborate with other academics here than any other place," Stamm said.

UNC administrators said they hope the grants will help attract more high-quality faculty and students to the University to continue research expansion. "I think it bodes extremely well for the future," Stamm said. "The challenge will be to continue to grow in these areas."

The University Editor can be reached at udesk@unc.edu.

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