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$17.3M grant to strengthen biomedical research for universities  Seven South Carolina colleges and universities will share a $17.3 million federal grant—among the largest university grants ever awarded in the Palmetto State—for a collaborative program that will bolster biomedical research and expand educational opportunities for undergraduates.   Each university will match its portion of the grant, which comes from the National Institutes of Health, to bring the total funding package to nearly $35 million. The participating institutions are the University of South Carolina, the lead institution; Clemson University; MUSC; the College of Charleston; and Claflin, Furman and Winthrop universities.   USC President Andrew Sorensen, Ph.D., said the NIH award will expand South Carolina’s research opportunities in bioengineering and provide undergraduates with valuable educational experiences through research projects with the state’s top scientists.   “The S.C. Centers for Economic Excellence have targeted bioengineering as a key area for the economic development of our state,” Sorensen said. “This award from NIH recognizes the caliber of scientific research at our colleges and universities and gives us the opportunity to develop bioengineering research programs that will make us competitive nationally for other funding.”   The award is part of the IDeA Networks of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE) at NIH, said John Baynes, Ph.D., a USC biochemistry professor and the principal investigator for the grant. “Through INBRE, South Carolina will develop the infrastructure to support a statewide network of bioengineering research,” Baynes said. “We will hire new faculty and staff, provide mentors for junior faculty and sponsor outstanding research and educational opportunities for our undergraduate students to encourage them to pursue careers in the biomedical sciences.”   The grant also will support the purchase of laboratory equipment and outreach programs to support research at the state’s 24 other four-year institutions.   The bioengineering research programs include the following: USC: Researchers at the USC School of Medicine and College of Engineering and Information Technology are studying tissue engineering for repair and rejuvenation of the cardiovascular system. Clemson University: Clemson researchers are developing innovative technology and biomaterials to replace damaged cardiovascular tissues and improve implant performance. Medical University of South Carolina: MUSC researchers are developing ways to use adult stem cells for tissue or genetic engineering and to screen for environemtnal toxins or drugs. Claflin University: Claflin University will strengthen its research efforts in three key areas: human papillomavirus, colon cancer and prostate cancer. College of Charleston: The College of Charleston will strengthen research in its departments of chemistry and biochemistry. Research programs will target the molecular mechanisms of disease and will focus on muscle assembly and function, neurological diseases, the retina and proteins that could be targets for drug therapies. Furman University: Furman will focus its research on molecular biology and biochemistry related to neuroscience and cancer therapy Winthrop University: Winthrop researchers are targeting six projects—cardiac tissue damage, prostate cancer, developing new spectroscopic tools to study interactions between metals and molecules, obesity, cancer-causing proteins and the Hepatitis B virus.   For more on NIH’s INBRE program, go to http://www.ncrr.nih.gov/resinfra/inbre.asp.   For information on South Carolina’s INBRE program, go to http://www.scidea.org.   Friday, Nov. 18, 2005 Catalyst Online is published weekly, updated as needed and improved from time to time by the MUSC Office of Public Relations for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of South Carolina. Catalyst Online editor, Kim Draughn, can be reached at 792-4107 or by email, catalyst@musc.edu. Editorial copy can be submitted to Catalyst Online and to The Catalyst in print by fax, 792-6723, or by email to petersnd@musc.edu or catalyst@musc.edu. To place an ad in The Catalyst hardcopy, call Community Press at 849-1778.