Grant will boost Idaho biomedical research $16 million will benefit higher ed, students, state’s reputation

Biomedical research and Idaho aren’t often paired in the same sentence. But a $16.1 million grant could help change that.

Idaho’s three public universities on Tuesday announced the receipt of the largest single research grant in the state’s history. The funding will be used to bolster a new biomedical research network linking the three public universities as well as six other colleges and two research centers in Idaho.

Julie Howard
The Idaho Statesman

http://www.idahostatesman.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040811/NEWS0202/408110311

"It’s going to be a wonderful opportunity for Idaho students who will be able to remain in Idaho and do research at their home institutions," said Boise State University President Bob Kustra.

The grant is expected to enhance the state’s reputation for research as well as expand upon existing programs that fund everything from breast cancer and Alzheimer’s research at BSU to math and science programs for K-12 students.

Andrew Oler, a student at BYU-Idaho, decided to transfer to BSU this fall because of a research fellowship he received at the Boise university. He has spent the summer working on breast cancer research with BSU biology professor Cheryl Jorcyk, and his fellowship is being funded through the grant program.

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Biomed grant facts

What: A $16.1 million grant from the National Institutes of Health.
Who: The grant goes to a program called the Biomedical Research Infrastructure Network, established among U of I, BSU and ISU in 2001. Those three public universities received an $8 million grant in 2001 that established the network. The new grant will add six more colleges to the BRIN program — Albertson College of Idaho, Brigham Young University-Idaho, College of Southern Idaho, Lewis-Clark State College, North Idaho College and Northwest Nazarene University. The Boise Veterans Affairs Medical Center and Mountain States Tumor and Medical Research Institute also will participate.
How the money will be used: The new funding will allow the universities to hire more student researchers, give professors more research time by funding part-time instructors, and expand programs that provide math and science skills to K-12 students.

Related Links

* Office of Extramural Research http://grants1.nih.gov/grants/award/state/state.htm

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"I wouldn’t have transferred if I didn’t get into this program," said Oler, who would like to pursue a career as a biomedical researcher. "I probably never would have thought about BSU."

The grant from the National Institutes of Health adds to an $8 million grant the three universities received in 2001 that allowed them to start the Biomedical Research Infrastructure Network.

The new funding will add several other colleges to the network — Albertson College of Idaho, BYU-Idaho, College of Southern Idaho, Lewis-Clark State College, North Idaho College and Northwest Nazarene University. The Boise Veterans Affairs Medical Center and Mountain States Tumor and Medical Research Institute will also participate.

"BRIN helped us to demonstrate the value of cooperation in equipping our scientists and our students to pursue biomedical research," said Michael Laskowski, director of the program, which is based at U of I in Moscow. "The effects have been profound."

The new funding will allow the universities to hire more student researchers, give professors more research time by funding part-time instructors and expand programs that provide math and science skills to K-12 students.

But the state has a long way to go.

Idaho is one of the weakest states for biomedical research funding from the National Institutes of Health, a government program that supplies billions of dollars in grants to universities and research facilities nationwide.

In 2003, only Alaska and Wyoming received fewer NIH grants than Idaho, which received a total of $10.7 million in 22 different grants. California received the most — 7,404 grants totaling $3.4 billion. Massachusetts, New York and Pennsylvania followed California.

Idaho’s lagging status actually contributed to its winning the recent award. Idaho has long been an "EPSCoR" state, which refers to the National Science Foundation’s Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research. The program helps states with smaller populations — and lower-than-average grant wins — to compete for federal research funds.

The $16.1 million grant was specifically funded through an NIH program modeled after the EPSCoR program and meant to help lagging states boost their biomedical research programs.

The grant significantly bolsters biomedical research now ongoing at Idaho universities, which include seeking a cure for cancer and finding drugs to halt the progression of Alzheimer’s disease.

"This program will benefit the entire state, providing local biomedical companies with a stream of trained graduates, ready to fill a variety of positions within their organizations," said ISU President Richard Bowen.

BSU’s Kustra said important, too, is the relationship growing between the universities.

"This is the greatest manifestation of the collaborative spirit prevailing now among Idaho institutions that we’ve seen yet," said Kustra.

He acknowledged that $16.1 million spread out over so many institutions might seem insignificant, but added the advancements made in research could be leveraged into further grants.

"It’s so much more money than we’ve had in the past, so it’s exciting to have this opportunity," said Kustra. "Our job now is to demonstrate that we can use these dollars effectively."

Arzhang Fallahi, who has attended both Albertson College in Caldwell and U of I, is finishing a summer working as a research assistant in a BRIN-funded lab at BSU. He said the training will help him when he goes to medical school at the University of Washington this fall.

"I have learned what it is to take on a completely new area where you must actively search for solutions," Fallahi said of his work in professor Julia Oxford’s lab. "Getting exposure to basic science that could have direct medical implications is a valuable asset for any prospective physician scientist."

Fallahi said "great science" is being conducted in Idaho labs, but said the state’s reputation in this area needs to be enhanced.

"I just wish bigger schools, especially M.D./Ph.D. programs, would take us more seriously," he said. "Funding of this nature is critical for Idaho to maintain a needed presence in the field of biomedical science."