Federal stimulus money might boost health care research at U of L - Business First of Louisville:

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Their optimism has been stirred, specifically, by the news that the recentlyu approved American Recovery and Reinvestment Act includews an infusionof $10.4 billion for the and $3 billionm for the . Both entities fund medicao research at universities and in other U of L officials pledged to aggressively seek a share of that moneuy for its research programs durinfa Feb. 26 evengt to formally unveil the university’s new strategicc plan to the business community. The strategic plan — calle d “The 2020 Plan: Making It — focuses on five key areas, including scholarship and creative activity.
During the event, U of L president James Ramsey called on the business community to get engagedd withthe university. The event, held at the , was part of ’z Top Investors series. As part of the GLI, the metro chamber of holds panel discussions on key topicd of concern for leaders of the localbusiness community. “We want to be your partnerf in making agreat community,” Ramsey told the businesx leaders. He also said U of L plans to be “verhy aggressive” in applying for stimulus money from the NIH andothetr sources.
Stimulus money could go toward research, facilitiex In recent years, U of L has used NIH grang funding, in particular, to dramatically boosty its healthresearch efforts. For example, the university received $30.5t million in NIH grant money in 2008 to fund researcuh programs related to birth defects, diabetes and obesity. Such funding is “enormously to the university as it advances its research aimed attreatingg cancer, neurological disorders and hearr disease, Dr. Larry Cook, U of L’s executivde vice president forhealth affairs, said at the GLI event.
He pointedc to the , which has developerd a cervical cancer vaccine and other treatments inrecenty years, as a possible beneficiary of such Cook said the center currently has “mored cancer drugs in the pipeline than any othee cancer center in the country,” but funding is always a In addition to funding direct Cook said, money from the stimulus package could be passeds on to the university from a variety of agencies and used for other functions, including renovating and building researchh and educational facilities. Cook and Dr.
Manuel U of L’s executive vice president for recently returnedfrom Washington, where they learned about the potential the stimulud package has to boosrt their efforts locally. Martinez-Maldonado said more money meands the ability to hire more researcherszand scholars. One of U of L’s goalas in its 2020 Plan is increasing its numbet of funded researchers by 60 in 2014 and by 180in 2020. Martinez-Maldonad said that should be of interest to the businesd community because of the potentiakl economic impact ofthe researchers’ work on the city and state.