Research Highlights
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Research Highlights January 2012 Research funding at Carolina THE STORY OF RESEARCH AT CAROLINA Carolina: A national leader in research Carolina’s research enterprise has doubled in the last decade, reaching nearly $800 million in extramural support last year. In a 2010 report titled The Top American Re- search Universities, Carolina ranked 6th among public universities and 30th among the world’s top 200 universities in 2010-2011, according to the London-based Times Higher Education magazine. The report, produced by the Center for Measuring Uni- versity Performance, assessed areas such as research, private support, faculty strength, and advanced training. Based on the most recent available data, Carolina ranks: • 6th among public research universities in the nation (Top American Research At $788 million, Carolina’s research funding for fiscal Universities, 2010) year 2011 was double that of fiscal year 2000 and more • 30th among the world’s top 200 universities (Times Higher Education, 2010) than triple that of 1996. • 19th in overall R&D expenditures (National Science Foundation, 2009) • 9th among all universities in HHS expenditures, including National Institutes of Health (National Science Foundation, 2009) Academic peers The research institutions listed below are Carolina’s closest peers. Duke University, Where research funding goes the only private school listed here, is both a competitor and a collaborator, and College/School, FY 2011 Amount shares many of Carolina’s attributes. Frequently, these institutions compete with Carolina for research funding, faculty, and graduate students. Arts and Sciences 88,731,573 • Duke University • University of Michigan Dentistry 11,369,684 • Ohio State University • University of Texas Medicine 382,470,079 • University of California-Berkeley • University of Virginia • University of California, Los Angeles • University of Washington Nursing 5,646,774 • University of Florida • University of Wisconsin Pharmacy 25,237,597 • University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Public Health 91,331,595 Social Work 9,977,619 Research funding and the Carolina budget Other 20,692,915 In 2000, research funding surpassed state appropriations as a share of Carolina’s bud- Pan-University Centers/Institutes 152,567,276 get and has since continued to grow. Total research funding, from both governmental and non-governmental sources, comprised more than 30% of Carolina’s revenue last Total $788,025,112 year. Research funding and the Carolina budget Government Contracts & Grants State Appropriations & Aid Tuition & Fees Private Gifts & Grants The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 1 RESEARCH ENDEAVORS AT CAROLINA Funding sources Collaboration Carolina is known for its ability to foster collaboration among disciplines and insti- tutions. One measure of this is sharing research grants. In fiscal year 2011, Carolina’s Office of Sponsored Research reported that the university received 873 sub-awards from other academic institutions and other collaborators totaling nearly $70 million and granted more than 1,000 sub-awards totaling more than $125 million. The vital role of F&A funds Facilities-and-administrative funds, also known as F&A funds, enable Carolina to support and grow its research enterprise. To maintain a leadership and competitive advantage, Carolina will need to retain the full use of its F&A funds. The federal government provides more than 70 percent of Carolina’s external funding. F&A-funded employees often provide services required by state or federal law and regulations. The total campus F&A expenditure for the administrative activities nec- essary for research compliance is at least $13 million a year. F&A-funded staff funds monitor the use of human subjects or laboratory animals in research, satisfy- ing federal mandates. These employees also administer research contracts and grants, Top sources of federal funds at Carolina fulfill reporting requirements, oversee safety and security for research labs, adminis- ter clinical trials, report and license inventions, create start-up companies, and help manage offices and labs. Without these employees, the university could not meet its legal obligations. Using F&A funds, Carolina launches new companies that create jobs for the state. More than 50 new companies based on Carolina inventions have been launched, sev- eral of which are developing new treatments for disease. Liquidia, for example, has received more than $50 million in venture funding and is developing highly precise particle-based vaccines and therapeutics for the prevention and treatment of human disease. F&A funds also support research on problems facing the state and its busi- nesses, including marine trades, business clusters, workforce housing and steps to pre- vent predatory lending. In addition to the costs of compliance, Carolina must invest to grow and compete in the international marketplace for knowledge and technology. For example, Carolina Carolina compared to the UNC system uses a portion of its F&A funds to provide: • Start-up funds. New faculty members use start-up funds to relocate, set up laboratories, buy computers, obtain research animals and supplies, and conduct preliminary studies. In the sciences, the total cost of a start-up package can reach $500,000. Without this investment, Carolina cannot attract top faculty. • Matching funds. A small investment in seed funding can lead to a big grant or launch new research. In recent years, Carolina used matching funds to help chemist Tom Meyer craft a successful proposal for the Department of Energy’s Energy Frontier Research Center competition and secure a grant from the Na- tional Science Foundation for a specialized confocal microscope that will ad- vance plant science. But compared to its peers, Carolina has a very small pool of seed funding. Increasing that pool is a priority. • Infrastructure. Modern research requires modern tools and facilities. The cost of laboratory space is more than double that of offices or classrooms. Since research depends on high-end computing, Carolina must also invest heavily in infrastructure and support for information technology. Carolina accounts for about 60 percent of total research awards for the UNC system. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 2 SELECTED RESEARCH STRENGTHS Neurosciences Carolina’s Neuroscience Center, directed by Bill Snider, applies the powerful tools of genetics and interdisciplinary collaboration. The center has recruited scientists from a wide variety of fields who are learning more about how the brain works, how it develops, and how its complex biology sometimes goes awry in neurological disorders and disease. Genetics and genome sciences Carolina has made a 10-year, $245 million commitment to develop strength in the fundamental sciences of life. Already, studies using mouse models and advanced The journal Science named Myron Cohen’s HIV preven- computational and analytical techniques are revealing basic knowledge that will have tion research the 2011 Breakthrough of the Year. The study showed that early treatment with antiretroviral direct relevance to scientists’ understanding of human biology and disease. drugs—that is, drugs that attack retroviruses such as HIV—can effectively prevent the transmission of the Health-care innovations virus. Carolina has broad strengths in medicine, pharmacy, and pharmacology, and is a leading force for better health care. Here are just a few examples: • Nanomedicine. Carolina faculty members are engaged in a campuswide ini- tiative to use nanotechnology to improve human health. In 2010, Carolina was awarded a second multimillion-dollar grant from the Carolina Center of Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence to bring Carolina physical scientists and cancer biologists together to implement nanotechnology approaches in cancer research, diagnosis, and treatment. Faculty members at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy’s Center for Nanotechnology in Drug Delivery are creating nano-scale pharmaceutical innovations for therapeutic and diagnostic purposes. • Infectious diseases. Carolina is an international leader in infectious disease research and was ranked #10 in 2011 by U.S. News and World Report for HIV/AIDS re- search. Carolina researchers are fighting malaria and HIV transmission in Malawi, targeting the resurgence of syphilis in China and Madagascar, and leading an in- ternational consortium to develop a new treatment for African sleeping sickness. Carolina’s Center for Infectious Disease provides treatment for patients with HIV and other infectious diseases in N.C. hospitals and county health departments. Undergraduates work with marine scientist Tony Ro- • Drug discovery. Researchers in pharmacy and pharmacology are finding new driguez to set up a Lidar laser imaging unit to map the compounds and new drug-delivery systems. For example, pharmacy professor beach. By comparing their images to post-storm images, Kuo-Hsiung Lee has developed a drug now in clinical trials that could revolu- they will determine damage and changes to the North Carolina coastline. tionize AIDS treatment. The drug is based on the discovery that a compound in a Taiwanese herb and in the bark of birch trees in North America has great potential in suppressing HIV/AIDS. Public health Carolina’s Gillings School of Global Public Health is 1st among public universities, according to U.S. News and World Report 2011. This school is a major force in en- suring the safety and health of citizens. Its research strengths include biostatistics, environmental