Program puts UM at forefront of biomedicine

The University of Montana is at the heart of a prestigious partnership that will put the liberal arts institution on the international map for biomedical research.

By BETSY COHEN of the Missoulian

http://missoulian.com/articles/2004/06/04/news/top/news01.txt

On Thursday, the National Institutes of Health announced its decision to enhance UM’s doctoral programs in biomedical sciences by funding a handful of UM’s top research students while they conduct projects with the Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Hamilton.

This is how it will work:

NIH will provide students a stipend, tuition and health insurance – about $44,000 per year – after their first year of studies in the new UM program, called the Graduate Partnerships Program in Biomedical Sciences and Related Disciplines.

Students will spend their first year taking graduate courses at UM and spend their remaining three years at RML researching infectious diseases.

Six Rocky Mountain Labs scientists will collaborate with UM faculty to teach courses in Missoula, and the scientists will serve as mentors for the students during their time at the Hamilton lab.

The average investment in each student who completes the program will be about $131,000, and plans are under way to enroll three students by fall 2005 and up to six students in following years. NIH will advertise the academic program nationally, and all interested students will apply to UM for consideration.

NIH has agreed to fund the partnership indefinitely, said Daniel Dwyer, UM’s vice president for research and development.

The unique arrangement places UM in distinguished company, as NIH has just 12 such agreements with learning institutions, including Cambridge and Oxford universities in England, the Karolinska Institute in Sweden and Johns Hopkins University in Maryland.

"This is just a great opportunity for us and our students," Dwyer said. "It will continue to strengthen our graduate programs, bring additional funding to programs and improve the quality of students.

"It will also give us national recognition for being partners with NIH, which is a major funder of biomedical research in this country."

Top administrators at Rocky Mountain Labs are equally enthusiastic about the alliance.

"This has given us an extraordinary opportunity to formalize our relationship with the University of Montana," said Marshall Bloom, the labs’ associate director.

"It will have astounding benefits for Rocky Mountain Laboratories as well as for UM," Bloom said. "It will be a tremendous boost because UM will have the ability to attract talented students and we will be able to help turn them into the next generation of top biomedical scientists."

RML is a leading research institute of infectious diseases, and is part of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, one of the NIH institutes.

Some of the most important scientific discoveries of the 20th century took place at the labs, including identifying the infectious agents responsible for Rocky Mountain spotted fever, Q fever and Lyme disease, Bloom said.

"We are delighted to work with UM," he said, "and we are excited for students to have this opportunity."

Reporter Betsy Cohen can be reached at 523-5253 or at [email protected]