UC Irvine received $263 million in research funding and grants during the 2004-05 academic year, a 6-percent increase over the previous year.
This is the fourth consecutive year UCI has set a record for grants and funding supporting its research. The increase also duplicates 2003-04's 6-percent increase in funding.
"UCI is a magnet for many of the world's top scientists and researchers who are engaged in cutting-edge research vital to their fields. Our success to again increase funding demonstrates the importance of this work, the quality of faculty and the university's research prominence," said William Parker, vice chancellor for research and dean of graduate studies.
The highest percentage of funding -- 65 percent -- went to biological and medical sciences, where researchers were awarded $171 million. This year's total includes a record 32 individual awards of more than $1 million. In addition, 55 faculty members received more than $1 million in total awards. Eighty percent of the awards will go toward research projects, 6 percent toward clinical trials and 6 percent will support training and fellowships. Federal agencies provided 70 percent of funding dollars, nonprofit organizations provided 12 percent and industry 9 percent.
Among the major recipients were:
- Dr. Alan Barbour, professor of medicine and microbiology, received $10 million from the National Institutes of Health to establish the Pacific-Southwest Center for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases Research -- one of only 10 federally funded regional centers dedicated to research for countering threats from bioterrorism agents and infectious diseases. Barbour will direct the center, which will include researchers from institutions and universities in California, Arizona, Nevada and Hawaii. The total grant of $40 million over four years is the largest in UCI history.
- Dr. Steven G. Potkin, professor of psychiatry and director of the Brain Imaging Center, received $4.4 million from the National Institutes of Health for the Biomedical Informatics Research Network, a nationwide system for sharing vast amounts of computerized brain imaging data about schizophrenia. This project is part of a three-year, federally funded $10.9-million program to speed development of new treatments for this disabling illness.
- Ronald J. Stern, dean of the School of Physical Sciences and professor of mathematics, received $2.9 million from the National Science Foundation for "Faculty Outreach Collaborations Uniting Scientists, Students and Schools." This funds the fourth year of a five-year $14.8-million program dedicated to improving preschool through high school student achievement in mathematics and science.
- Dr. Frank Meyskens, director of the Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, received $2.6 million from the National Cancer Institute to support the center's efforts to advance research on the mechanisms of cancer and to conduct clinical prevention and treatment studies. The support is part of a $12.8-million, five-year NCI grant.
- Michael Berns, the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Professor and founder of the Beckman Laser Institute, received $2.3 million from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research to work with the Department of Defense to develop new diagnostics and therapeutic optical technologies that can be used for battlefield injuries and other civilian medical applications.
Departments with a greater than 50-percent increase in funding this year include chemistry, microbiology and molecular genetics, psychiatry and human behavior, social ecology, and civil and environmental engineering. Research units with greater than $3 million in awards include the Institute for Brain Aging and Dementia, Genetic Epidemiology Research Institute, and Center for Health Policy and Research.
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