As pocketbooks for local communities,
individuals and the federal government tighten, and competition for research
dollars intensifies, the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) continues
to race down the road of discovery for new treatments,procedures and cures
thanks to record-breaking research funding.
Despite a declining federal budget for biomedical research, MUSC announced
today that research-related funding is at an all-time high of $202,082,662
for fiscal year 2008, with $101,177,121 of that amount received from prestigious
National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants and awards. The new numbers
represent a growth of approximately $9 million in total research funding
from fiscal year 2007. NIH funding increased by $8 million from 2007 to
2008. “The sustained increase in NIH funding at MUSC during the
last three years is particularly noteworthy because of the flat or declining
budget at the federal level, and serves as a solid indicator of the quality
of programs as all NIH research proposals are peer-reviewed and rigorously
evaluated,” said Stephen M. Lanier, Ph.D., MUSC Associate Provost
for Research and pharmacology professor.
“These achievements reflect the sustained effort of many talented
faculty, fellows, and students, and also MUSC leadership, state support,
increasing program connectivity across the region and the many dedicated
people in our research support units,” said John Raymond, M.D.,
MUSC Vice President of Academic Affairs and Provost.
While local and state economies struggle with signs of a downturn, MUSC’s
research growth positively impacts the economy as new faculty and staff
move to the area and new jobs become available. Lanier said a recent announcement
of a planned “new company laboratory incubator” through a
partnership with the South Carolina Research Authority, the City of Charleston
and MUSC “serves as another platform for the area’s growth
in life sciences as new companies and (more) licensing agreements spring
forth from MUSC technology and research.”
MUSC President Ray Greenberg, M.D., Ph.D., added that “an important
mechanism for continued research growth at MUSC is the Centers of Economic
Excellence program (CoEE) and the South Carolina Research Infrastructure
Act that allows the university to recruit the best scientists to South
Carolina.”
MUSC now has 12 endowed chairs recruited through the CoEE, and three
new centers approved for funding later this year. With funds from the
South Carolina Research Infrastructure Act, MUSC will break ground this
fall on a 100,000 square foot drug discovery building dedicated to interdisciplinary
research themes. Immediately adjacent to this building will be another
90,000 square foot research building for programs in cancer genomics and
to serve as a home for the
South Carolina Bioengineering Alliance with faculty and students from
MUSC, USC and Clemson. Continued growth will also stem from rapidly growing
programs in MUSC Neurosciences, the Hollings Cancer Center, Ashley River
Tower, and faculty recruitment through the CoEE program.
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