An NDSU researcher is participating in a new $20 million, five-year grant received by the University of Nebraska Medical Center.
Mark McCourt, Dale Hogoboom and James A. Meier Professor of Psychology and director of the Center for Visual and Cognitive Neuroscience (CVCN), is a member of the steering committee of the medical center’s new Great Plains IDeA-CTR Network, a collaboration of nine institutions in Nebraska, North Dakota, Kansas and South Dakota.
Funding for the network is provided through the Institutional Development Award (IDeA) program and the National Institutes of Health's National Institute of General Medical Studies. It will focus on developing early career researchers into independent scientists and increasing the infrastructure and other resources needed to support clinical or translational research throughout the region.
The grant will particularly focus on expanding knowledge about approaches needed to address diseases of aging and brain health, according to Dr. Matthew Rizzo, professor and chair of the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s Department of Neurological Sciences, who will lead the research team.
Rizzo also is a member of the External Advisory Committee for NDSU’s Center for Visual and Cognitive Neuroscience, which recently received a renewal of funding through the Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence, known as COBRE.
According to McCourt, faculty at NDSU will participate in the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s grant by applying for Pilot Project grants and support through the Scholars program.
“Both of these programs provide research support to faculty to make them competitive for major NIH research grants. The CVCN COBRE also has a Pilot Project program that will be rolling out soon, so there will be a lot of opportunities for NDSU faculty to obtain research funding,” McCourt said, noting the NDSU budget in the medical center grant is approximately $80,000 over five years, and is given as a subcontract.
In addition to the University of Nebraska Medical Center, other participating institutions include NDSU, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, University of Nebraska at Omaha, University of Nebraska at Kearney, Boys Town National Research Hospital, University of South Dakota, University of North Dakota and the University of Kansas Medical Center.
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