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UC researchers have cause to celebrate. Four of our own are recognized among “Thirty in Their Thirties” by BioOhio—the state’s bioscience membership and development organization. Read more about your colleagues and others in Ohio who are making their mark in the latest edition of BioOhio’s Accelerating Excellence magazine.
As always, we welcome your feedback and encourage you to check out research.uc.edu for the latest research news and announcements.
Sandra Degen, PhD
Vice President for Research
NEWS/GRANTS
Addition of Chemical Compound Library Boosts UC’s Drug Discovery Efforts
Procter & Gamble (P&G) has provided full access and use of its chemical compound library to UC’s Genome Research Institute. The newly acquired library—used by scientists trying to determine the right chemical structure or drug to target a specific disease—was acquired by P&G over the last 10 years and contains more than 250,000 individual chemical compounds. When used in conjunction with the high-throughput screening (HTS) system purchased last year by the Computational Medicine Center at UC and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, the library will become a powerful tool for enhancing UC’s drug discovery mission. Read more in the latest edition of Academic Health Center Findings.
Research Incentive Funds Update
At the end of each biennium, it’s the responsibility of the vice president for research to submit a report to the Ohio Board of Regents (OBR) describing how the next allocation of Research Incentive funds will be utilized. The report was completed and submitted at the end of May. Below are details from the report:
Over several years, UC has adopted a strategy that allows funding decisions to be made at the central, university-wide and college/departmental levels. This allows resources to be directed to institutional initiatives as well as to needs that develop within college units as a result of recruitment of new faculty, the pursuit of new research directions, and acquisition of new laboratory and instrumentation facilities. Research Incentive funds (40 percent) will be awarded to each college proportionate to its external research awards included in the OBR base for Research Incentive distribution calculation. Overall, the distribution of Research Incentive funds (including funding distributed to the colleges) is as follows:
Recruitment and Retention of World-Class Faculty—30 percent
Faculty Development Programs—10 percent
Interdisciplinary Research Institutes/Centers (with shared core facilities)—30 percent
Third Frontier Initiatives—10 percent
Undergraduate, Graduate and Postdoctoral Fellow Research Programs—10 percent
Cost-Sharing for Extramural Grant Proposals and Equipment Funds—10 percent
URC Awards 104 Grants in 2006–07
The University Research Council (URC) awarded more than $700,000 (104 grants) to faculty and graduate students during the 2006–07 academic year. Grants awarded per competition are summarized below:
Faculty Grants:
Faculty Research Support Program: 18
Summer Faculty Fellowship: 9
Interdisciplinary Grant Program: 9
Graduate Students Grants:
Graduate Student Summer Fellowship: 68
The URC comprises four subcommittees—Arts and Humanities, Behavioral and Social Sciences, Life Sciences, and Engineering and Physical Sciences. Chairs and committee members were responsible for reviewing nearly 350 grant applications in 2006–07. Much time and effort was required of this faculty group to review all applications fairly. See the full listing of URC committee members at http://www.uc.edu/ucresearch/researchcouncil.html.
New Grants Awarded in May
Writing winning grants is tough. We understand the hard work that goes into preparing a proposal and want to make sure that effort doesn’t go unnoticed. Check out your great work—and that of your colleagues—at http://www.uc.edu/ucresearch/new_grant_winners.html.
Research Grants Advisory Committee to Meet
The Research Grants Advisory Committee—chaired by Ken Petren, PhD, associate professor of biological sciences—has met several times and will convene again in June to discuss several agenda items including nontraditional funding, recent attrition and turnover of Sponsored Research Services (SRS) staff, communication between principal investigators and SRS staff, the five-day lead time for proposal submissions, budget cuts and their effect on the grant-submission process, and internal funding opportunities, among other things. Read Update each month to learn more about the progress of this committee.
SPOTLIGHT
IACUC Chair George Babcock
As chair of UC’s Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC), George Babcock, PhD, is responsible for oversight of the university’s animal research programs, ensuring that procedures and facilities meet required regulations. As a scientist himself—he’s currently the acting director of research at Shriners Hospital for Children, Cincinnati—Babcock understands the importance of maintaining effective, efficient and ethical animal research programs. His research focuses on immunology related to burns and infectious diseases, and he has served or is serving on advisory or editorial boards for several journals including Burns, the Journal of Experimental and Clinical Cancer Research, the Journal of Nutritional Immunology and Biochemical Pharmacology. In addition to his memberships in the American Association for Advancement of Science, American Association for Cancer Research and the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science, he also serves as a member of Public Responsibility in Medicine and Research and Scientists Center for Animal Welfare.
EVENTS
Clinical Research Orientation Program
June 14, 2007
8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Room 450, University Hall
For more information, contact Carol Fabby at (513) 558-5620 or e-mail fabbyc@ucmail.uc.edu.
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