Medical School joins statewide biomedical research network

A $6-million NIH grant will help Brown and five other Rhode Island colleges and universities collaborate on biomedical research.

by Scott Turner

Under a $6 million grant awarded to the University of Rhode Island, faculty in Brown Medical School will help researchers among the state's six universities and colleges collaborate to advance biomedical research.

The grant was awarded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to help Rhode Island develop a statewide network of biomedical researchers to compete for future NIH grants and to increase the biomedical research manpower in the state.

The three-year project involves 37 faculty members from URI, Brown, Roger Williams University, Bryant, Providence and Rhode Island Colleges. The URI contingent will provide the project's backbone and leadership.

The network will draw from such disciplines as toxicology, pharmacology, chemistry, biology, pathology, psychology, computer science, mathematics, biomedical engineering and physical education.

The grant will fund both research of"junior faculty" and expand their opportunities, and those of their students, to collaborate on research and teaching.

In addition, senior faculty from URI and Brown will serve as mentors for junior faculty, focusing on various biomedical research topics.

At Brown, the project's senior faculty member is Kim Boekelheide, M.D., Ph.D., professor of pathology and laboratory medicine. Part of the grant, about $75,000 each year, will fund the research of assistant professor Kamin Johnson, Ph.D., who works in collaboration with the Boekelheide lab. That lab explores factors that interfere with sperm formation (called spermatogenesis). Johnson studies how toxicants disrupt spermatogenesis.

"The funding is designed to help Kamin further develop his research and his research skills," said Boekelheide, who will act as a mentor for Johnson, under the project.

In addition, Boekelheide will mentor faculty and students outside Brown, who will receive close to $100,000 in annual funding from the grant.

In particular, Boekelheide will mentor one of his former post-doctoral researchers, Eric Hall, Ph.D., who is now an assistant professor at Rhode Island College (RIC). Hall and several undergraduates conduct biological research in reproductive biology and toxicology at RIC. The funding will allow them to obtain necessary equipment, gain release time from teaching and attend seminars and lab meetings at Brown, relative to their shared research interests.

Involving undergraduates in NIH-funded biomedical research is not new at Brown. In fact, campus faculty alone received more than $30 million in NIH funds in the last fiscal year.

But"this grant is a genuine attempt to develop such opportunities and collaborations for junior faculty and undergraduates within and among all of the state's four-year colleges and universities," Boekelheide said.

"You need funding to support research to generate data," said Johnson."Then it's that data that helps you receive future grants."

Another goal of the program is to provide paths to research careers in the biomedical sciences. Both junior faculty and students will be trained to do cutting-edge science to augment efforts in Rhode Island to create an environment attractive to high-tech companies. According to the Rhode Island Economic Development Corp., there are 99 biotechnology and biomedical firms in the state, employing more than 3,400 individuals.

"At a time when the state's economy is challenged, this investment in building scientific infrastructure is very welcome," said URI President Robert L. Carothers.