The campus of the University of Nebraska Medical Center.
The University of Nebraska Medical Center and the University of Nebraska at Omaha both secured record research funding from outside sources in fiscal year 2020, officials announced Monday.
UNMC topped $174.2 million in research funding from outside sources during 2020, up 26% from the previous year’s record $138 million. As in previous years, most of the funds — 69% — came from federal sources. Most of the federal funding, in fact, came from the National Institutes of Health.
Of the total, $7 million is directed toward research related to COVID-19, specifically on work intended to help develop training on how best to protect first responders, businesses and community groups. The list includes research aimed at improving testing and at developing strategies and products that can prevent disease in at-risk people, including health care providers and students, first responders and other community members.
The funding also supports clinical trials for treatments for COVID-19, the illness caused by the novel coronavirus.
Dr. Jennifer Larsen, UNMC vice chancellor for research, said the increase is particularly remarkable because it occurred at a time when many types of research had to pause or slow because of the coronavirus.
- An award of $2.3 million to Tony Wilson, a professor of neurological sciences, for a new center focused on neuroimaging, a partnership involving Boys Town National Research Hospital, Creighton University and UNO.
- $1.4 million to Dr. Andre Kalil, a professor of infectious diseases, for a clinical trial that demonstrated the effectiveness of the drug remdesivir for treating COVID-19.
- $1.6 million to Joshua Santarpia, research director of the National Strategic Research Institute, for multiple projects involving decontaminating spaces and equipment from COVID-19.
- Elizabeth Wellsandt, assistant professor of physical therapy, for a study to identify markers that predict the earliest signs of poor knee joint outcomes after anterior cruciate ligament injuries.
