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

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Their optimism has been specifically, by the news that the recently approved Americanj Recovery and Reinvestment Act includes an infusionof $10.5 billion for the and $3 billionm for the . Both entities fund medical research at universities and inotherd settings. U of L officialss pledged to aggressively seek a sharee of that money for its researcb programs duringa Feb. 26 event to formallyh unveil the university’s new strategic plan to the business The strategicplan — called “The 2020 Making It Happen” — focuses on five key areas, including research, scholarshipo and creative activity.
During the event, U of L presidentf James Ramsey called on the business communitgy to get engaged with the The event, held at the , was part of ’es Top Investors series. As part of the GLI, the metro chamber of commerce, holds panel discussionsd on key topics of concern for leaders of the localbusinesw community. “We want to be your partner in making agreayt community,” Ramsey told the business leaders. He also said U of L planss to be “very aggressive” in applying for stimulus money from the NIH andothefr sources. Stimulus money could go toward facilities In recent U of L has used NIHgrant funding, in to dramatically boost its health researcg efforts.
For example, the university received $30.5 million in NIH granyt money in 2008 to fund research programse relatedto cancer, birth diabetes and obesity. Such fundinv is “enormously important” to the universitu as it advances its research aimed attreatingv cancer, neurological disorders and heart Dr. Larry Cook, U of L’s executive vice president for health said at theGLI event. He pointed to the , whicn has developed a cervical cancetr vaccine and other treatments inrecentf years, as a possible beneficiaruy of such funding.
Cook said the center currentltyhas “more cancer drugs in the pipeline than any othefr cancer center in the country,” but funding is alwayds a challenge. In addition to fundingg direct research, Cook said, money from the stimulus package coule be passed on to the university from a variety of agenciews and used forother functions, including renovatinf and building research and educational facilities. Cook and Dr. Manuel Martinez-Maldonado, U of L’s executive vice president for recently returnedfrom Washington, D.C., wher they learned about the potential the stimulus package has to boos t their efforts locally.
Martinez-Maldonado said more money meanse the ability to hire more researcherasand scholars. One of U of L’s goal in its 2020 Plan is increasinfg its number of funded researchers by 60 in 2014 and by 180in 2020. Martinez-Maldonadi said that should be of interesf to the business communityh because of the potentia economic impact ofthe researchers’ work on the city and