INBRE Grant Funds Biomedical Research,
Undergraduate Mentoring at CofC
In the Fall of 2005 it was announced that seven South Carolina colleges and universities would share a $17.3 million federal grant—among the largest university grants ever awarded in the Palmetto State. The NIH award expanded South Carolina’s research opportunities in bioengineering and is providing undergraduates with valuable educational experiences through research projects with the some of state’s top scientists.
Over $2.25 million of those federal dollars came to the College of Charleston, and with each institution providing matching funds, that's made some $5 million available to the five investigators in Biology, Chemistry & Biochemistry to improve their facilities, concentrate on their labs and provide expanded research opportunities to undergraduates — students who may well go on to graduate schools and scientific careers of their own.
The skills and knowledge I have attained through hands-on research in the lab will follow me throughout school, and continue into my professional career. This opportunity is one of the highlights of my undergraduate academic studies.
— Andrea Chianella (’08)
The theme of the proposal which captured the funds for the CofC is "Molecular Models and Chemical Approaches to Disease Processes." The College has focussed support on 5 junior faculty who have the clear potential for independent NIH funding. Senior faculty from the Medical University of South Carolina and other institutions will serve as mentors for these investigators. Each investigator will also mentor undergraduates over the course of their research. This kind of direct involvment – having undergraduates working in an active research setting – has been shown to be of great importance in encouraging students to go on to graduate school in the biomedical sciences.
The grant further provides for the strategic purchases of major equipment as nucleating centers for biomedical research and support for research experiences for many undergraduate students. The INBRE investment will enable the College to take the next significant step in its research development by enabling us to create a self-sustaining community of biomedical researchers linked by ideas and tools.
The award is part of the IDeA Networks of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE) at NIH. The purpose of the SC-INBRE Program is to foster health-related research and increase the competitiveness of SC investigators for grant awards from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) by programmatic expansion and networking of research activities of both faculty and students.
The Institutional Development Award (IDeA) Program aims to broaden the geographic distribution of NIH funding for biomedical and behavioral research. The program fosters health-related research and enhances the competitiveness of investigators at institutions located in states in which the aggregate success rate for applications to NIH has historically been low.
Learn more by visiting the individual investigators’ pages, or get additional background information on the College of Charleston and its commitment to undergraduate research and excellence in science education.