$311 Million in Funding and Grants Is 18-Percent Increase Over Previous Academic Year
Again setting a record, UC Irvine received almost $311 million in research funding and grants during the 2005-06 academic year, a dramatic 18-percent increase over the previous year.

This is the fifth consecutive year UCI has set a record for grants and funding supporting its research. Overall, UCI research funding over the last five academic years has increased more than 60 percent.

"UCI continues to attract major funding for research at record-breaking levels, a tribute to the quality and aspirations of our faculty," said William Parker, vice chancellor for research and dean of graduate studies. "Among the impressive increases this year was federal support for UCI research, which rose by 8 percent. This comes at a time when institutions like the National Institutes of Health have generally leveled their support for research nationwide. But at UCI, this type of funding rose -- a recognition of the value placed in the work being conducted at this campus."

The highest percentage of funding -- 68 percent -- went to biological and medical sciences, where researchers were awarded $210 million. This year's total also includes a record 35 individual awards of more than $1 million. In addition, 63 faculty members received more than $1 million in total awards. Seventy-eight percent of the year's funding went toward research projects, 6 percent toward clinical trials and 8 percent toward support training and fellowships. Federal agencies provided about 64 percent of funding dollars, nonprofit organizations 18 percent, and industry 10 percent.

Among the major recipients were:

. Vector biologist Anthony James, who received a grant from the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health of $19.7 million to support the development of new methods to control the transmission of dengue fever, a mosquito-borne viral disease affecting tens of millions of people worldwide. The project is among 43 groundbreaking research projects to improve health in developing countries, supported by $436 million from the Grand Challenges in Global Health initiative. James oversees an effort that includes researchers based in the United States, Great Britain, Brazil and Thailand.

. Dr. Alan Barbour, professor of medicine and microbiology, who received $9.2 million from the National Institutes of Health in the second year of a four-year, $40 million grant. The grant is 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.

. Dr. Steven G. Potkin, professor of psychiatry and director of the Brain Imaging Center, who received $4.7 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.

. Will Recker, professor of civil engineering and director of the UCI Institute of Transportation Studies, who received a $3.8 million grant funded jointly by the California Department of Transportation and the U.S. Department of Transportation, in support of a research and development program to work toward overcoming institutional, technical and philosophical barriers to introducing innovative technologies into the management of complex transportation systems.

. Ronald J. Stern, former dean of the School of Physical Sciences and professor of mathematics, who received $3 million from the National Science Foundation for "Faculty Outreach Collaborations Uniting Scientists, Students and Schools." This grant funds the last year of a five-year, $14.8-million program dedicated to improving preschool through high school student achievement in mathematics and science.

Departments with a greater than 50-percent increase in funding this year include the departments of Education, History, and Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, and also The Paul Merage School of Business (which has no individual departments). Research units with greater than $3 million in awards include the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology, Genetic Epidemiology Research Institute, Institute for Brain Aging and Dementia, Institute for Genomics and Bioinformatics, and Institute of Transportation Studies.

About the University of California, Irvine: The University of California, Irvine is a top-ranked university dedicated to research, scholarship and community service. Founded in 1965, UCI is among the fastest-growing University of California campuses, with more than 24,000 undergraduate and graduate students and about 1,400 faculty members. The second-largest employer in dynamic Orange County, UCI contributes an annual economic impact of $3.3 billion. For more UCI news, visit www.today.uci.edu.

Television: UCI has a broadcast studio available for live or taped interviews. For more information, visit www.today.uci.edu/broadcast.

News Radio: UCI maintains on campus an ISDN line for conducting interviews with its faculty and experts. The use of this line is available free-of-charge to radio news programs/stations who wish to interview UCI faculty and experts. Use of the ISDN line is subject to availability and approval by the university.