EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Office of Research:
Introduction: Continued growth in research at UNTHSC, coupled with the increasing oversight responsibilities associated with this growth, led to reorganization of the Research Office in 2005. In February 2005, Thomas Yorio, Ph.D., became Senior Vice President for Research. Reporting to Dr. Yorio are Glenn H. Dillon, Ph.D., Associate Vice President for Research, and Robert McClain, Ph.D., Associate Vice President for Technology Development and Commercialization. Dr. Dillon has responsibility for oversight of the Office of Grants and Contracts Management, Office for the Protection of Human Subjects, the Office of Clinical Trials, and Laboratory Animal Medicine, while Dr. McClain oversees development, protection and promotion of intellectual discoveries. This report reviews the activities of the divisions reporting through Dr. Dillon up to Dr. Yorio. In sections I through III, key aspects of Division activities are summarized; complete unedited reports of each division can be found in Appendix III.
A. Research Growth: Progress continues to be made toward achieving the goal of recognition as a premier research institution. The trend of enhanced research funding continued in FY05-06; funding increased approximately 31% to an all-time high of over $26 million. Additionally, proposal submission, a leading indicator for research funding, also increased to an all time high of nearly $158M, a 19% increase from 04-05.
Pursuit of new initiatives and research collaborations: A major factor in our enhanced growth is the aggressive and forward-thinking pursuit of special initiative funds by the Research Office and key leading faculty. We have experienced considerable success from these efforts. For instance, we anticipate in early 06-07 receipt of a $2.2M award from the state's Emerging Technology Fund to fund establishment of a Center for Commercialization of Fluorescence Technologies. This award allowed us to bring in an excellent new investigative team (Karol and Ignacy Grycinski) from the University of Maryland . The Grycinskis bring with them cutting-edge fluorescence technologies which: 1) support the research activities of many researchers here at UNTHSC; and 2) have excellent potential for commercialization. Additionally, we await a $1M award from the Department of Defense to support our establishment of a Rapid Response Program for Detection of Biological and Chemical Warfare Agents. This program, to be headed by Welch Professor Laszlo Prokai, will be a uniqu e and critically important federally-supported initiative. An additional example is our partnering with UT-Southwestern Medical Center on a multi-year, $30M research award on Clinical and Translational Research. Although not funded on the initial submission, we expect this to be funded when next reviewed. This collaborative partnership will link together primary care clinics throughout north Texas , and will provide an excellent vehicle for growth in clinical research. UNTHSC also spearheaded submission to NIH of the North Central Texas Neuroscience Center Core grant proposal. This effort was led by James Simpkins, Ph.D., chair of the Department of Pharmacology and Neuroscience. This $9M collaborative proposal, the goal of which was to establish core facilities to support several areas of research, included several local institutions as partners. UNTHSC continues to be a leader in osteopathic manipulative medicine, as evidenced by the continuing success of the Osteopathic Research Center .
A final, key example of UNTHSC's commitment to establishing external research collaborations is its partnership with Tech Fort Worth, the business and technology incubator for the city of Fort Worth . The bioscience division of Tech Fort Worth is operated out of UNTHSC's Center for BioHealth (CBH). In addition, UNTHSC has agreed to provide wet lab space for those start-up companies with a need for such space. A recent feature in the Fort Worth Business Press ( http://www.fwbusinesspress.com/display.php?id=5462&search=UNTHSC ) describes this relationship and the first tenant to move into the Center for BioHealth through this partnership. Last year, we partnered with the city and secured state funding to further advance this endeavor. Whereas the foundation for strength in research must come from an institution's faculty and a commitment to help those faculty succeed, UNTHSC has recognized that establishing external partnerships is also key to continued growth in research. Thus, even in the face of difficult times for funding at the federal level, strong growth in research for 06-07 is projected.
The Research Advisory Council: Formation of the Research Advisory Council (RAC) in FY05, and initiatives spawned by it, positions UNTHSC for continued growth in research. The RAC is charged with enhancing the overall research enterprise here at UNTHSC. Historically, there has been little inter-school coordination in pursuing and attracting research funding. By bringing to the table top researchers from all UNTHSC schools, RAC is facilitating both intra- and inter-institutional research collaborations. The first major order of business for RAC was the creation of an institutional Strategic Plan for Research. This well-conceived and thorough plan was adopted in FY06, and will help drive research development at UNTHSC for the next several years. A plan is of no use if it is not acted upon. We have implemented many recommendations, and are devising implementation plans for those that are more resource-intensive. As of this writing, RAC is also taking in the lead in other issues related to research, such as development of institutional policy for multi-unit hiring of faculty. The members of RAC are to be commended for their commitment to further developing UNTHSC's strong research base. It is fair to state that through formation of the Research Advisory Council and subsequent developments advanced by it, the institution has made considerable strides in enhancing research at UNTHSC.
B. Strengths and Weaknesses: Each month the Office of Research issues a report, which summarizes the research performance indicators of each of the units in the institution. At the end of the year this annual report evaluates and summarizes the strengths and weaknesses of the institution with respect to research, and the divisions that support research. That is the subject of what follows in this document.
The leading sources of research support at UNTHSC continues to be federal programs (85%), most of which are from the NIH (63%). Industry support has remained stable over the past several years and is expected to grow with establishment of the Department of Technology Development and Commercialization. State support of research for 05-06 ($897,000) was considerably above that of 04-05, but remains well below a high of nearly $2 million in FY01-02. However, more aggressive pursuit of dedicated state research funds is ongoing, and these numbers should improve considerably in coming years.
The Graduate School of Biomedical Science (GSBS) continues to provide the foundation for most of the research. Funding to GSBS was over $17 million, an excellent 59% increase from 04-05, and an all-time high. The GSBS share of total research support was 66.4 % of total, which is comparable to recent years. On a per FTE basis, research support in the GSBS is highly ranked nationally. In comparing research dollars per FTE to the 126 allopathic medical schools, funding of the GSBS Basic Science Depts (excluding pathology) ranks above the 90 th %ile nationally (data obtained from AAMC website), at $362,000/FTE. The Pharmacology and Neuroscience Department continues to perform at extraordinary levels, as it exceeded $7.4M this year, and an average of $590,000/FTE. This likely puts this department in the top 3 nationally on a funding per faculty basis.
TCOM research funding increased 10% in 05-06, to an all-time high of $7.2M; this equates to 27.4% of institutional research funding. Leading divisions include Pathology/DNA lab ($2.9M, up from $2M), Internal Medicine ($2.0M, down from 3.8M in 04-05), and the Osteopathic Research Center (ORC, $1.37M, up from $302,000 in 04-05). Clinical Trial revenue is included in these department figures, and is reported separately later in this document.
The School of Public Health (SPH) showed excellent overall growth in research funding this year, from 0.8M to 1.6M. Leading departments include Social and Behavioral Science ($527,000) and Epidemiology ($488,000). SPH continues be a relatively small overall percentage of total research funding (6.2%).
Problems of insufficient research space will continue for at least the next few years. Whereas the long term prospects for new research space should be strong with the expansion of the campus, meeting short-term needs may be difficult. Research activity is strong in the new Center for BioHealth, which was partially completed and opened in summer 2004. However, Floors 2, 4 and 6 of CBH remain wholly or partly unfinished. The remaining unfinished space in 2 nd floor of CBH will be completed in 2007, through a collaborative partnership with the City of Fort Worth . Additional funds are being sought to complete the remaining unfinished floors of CBH (4 th and 6 th ). With the reorganization of the Advancement Office, and a renewed institutional commitment to its success, it is anticipated that additional funds for completion of CBH will be forthcoming in FY06-07. Completion of the newly approved teaching/research building, to be located on the west campus will alleviate some space concerns once completed; however, this remains 2-3 years away and cannot thus solve current research space needs. Lack of research space will be particularly problematic if the major state research initiative for the Health Institutes of Texas is funded. For UNTHSC research to continue to grow, it is critical for the remaining space in CBH be completed. In addition to a need for new space, it is critical for the institution to assess space usage to ensure space is allocated to best support research growth.
Although we have been successful in acquiring instrumentation through NIH-funded shared equipment grants, lack of major institutional funds for replacement and repair of major scientific equipment will become an issue as federal availability of these funds diminish. The RAC has proposed allocating a fixed percentage of indirect costs each year for instrumentation upgrade, but this proposal has not been approved and acted upon. If this is not addressed, the institution cannot expect continued strong rates of growth in research over the coming years.
C. Projections: A major correlate of research funding is grant proposal submissions. Submissions for 05-06 were at an all-time high (nearly $158M). Almost three fourths (74.1%) of the proposals were submitted to the NIH (85.5% to federal agencies overall). The Graduate School accounted for 79% of all research fund requests ($124M), comparable to its percentage in 04-05. TCOM submissions amounted to $17 million, comparable to the value requested in 04-05. Proposals submitted by SPH were at an all-time high by far ($16.4M, compared with just 2.7M in 04-05); this should bode well for future funding in SPH. SPH has brought on a number of new faculty in the past couple years, and some of these faculty have brought research grants with them. With regard to clinical trials, reorganization of the Office of Clinical Trials, as well as developing capacity due to newly established partnerships, should result in steadily increasing volume and revenue.
A second major correlate of the ability to grow research efforts is obviously availability of funds. At the federal level (which accounts for the overwhelming majority of our submissions), the research community is in the midst of lean funding years. The NIH budget has been relatively flat in recent years. With the flat budget has come a very significant decrease in the percentage of proposals that receive fundable scores (paylines are averaging roughly 10% for most institutes/study sections). This disconcerting trend is likely to continue for the next several years. This makes it even more critical for UNTHSC to invest in equipment and other core facilities so that our outstanding scientist have the best possible chance to succeed in acquiring research funding.
A strategy that has proven to be successful for UNTHSC, and is consistent with the goals of NIH, is collaborative research initiatives such as program project grants (PPG) and center grants (also see above). UNTHSC currently has two PPGs, and a third is right at the funding line; its fate will be known in January. UNTHSC should be proactive in supporting these and other large-scale collaborative funding efforts.
Reorganization of the Office of Research into its existing structure is consistent with our growth in research. The goals and objectives of the subdivisions of Research (Office of Grants and Contracts Management; Department of Lab Animal Medicine; Office of Clinical Trials; Office for the Protection of Human Subjects; Office of Technology Development and Commercialization), and the success in achieving these goals, is presented below. In general, the divisions of Research have been successful in achieving their stated goals, and the office is well-positioned for continued success, provided critical resources are available. Major changes in Research in FY05-06 include establishment of the Office for Protection of Human Subjects, and the transfer of the Office of Clinical Trials to Research (previously was under TCOM). The Department of Laboratory Animal Medicine continues to be the premier "gold standard " for such activities and a "clearing house" for the dissemination of resources relating to the use of laboratory animals in research. In this area of research compliance, review by the USDA resulted in an exemplary score and not a single area of non-compliance.
Thus, by a variety of external measures the Office of Research continues to facilitate research growth at UNTHSC. However, additional improvement can be made with additional resources. Availability of resources to support implementation of major recommendations from the Research Strategic Plan will allow for continued growth. Some improvements are being achieved, whereas upgrades in services and opportunities in other areas will require more resources. As research funding increases, and as we continue to become a major resource for local partners such as the area hospitals, there will be a need for additional staff. Such resources should come largely from F&A funds, which are explicitly for this purpose. The continued growth of research at UNTHSC will depend on administrative decisions to provide support for these activities.
