200/100 celebrates milestoneDespite tight budgets and intense competition for federal research dollars, MUSC continues to discover new treatments, procedures and cures with the help of record-breaking extramural research funding.Dr. Stephen Lanier speaks to more than 1,000 MUSC employees during the 200/100 celebration Oct. 3. In addition to cake and ice cream, commemorative wooden puzzles were distributed. At MUSC, research funding is at an all-time high with funds exceeding $202 million for fiscal year 2008, more than $101 million of which came in the way of prestigious National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants and awards. These new numbers represent a growth of approximately $9 million in total research funding from fiscal year 2007. NIH funding increased by $8 million from 2007 to 2008. “The sustained increase in NIH funding at MUSC during the last three years is particularly noteworthy because of the flat or declining budget at the federal level, and serves as a solid indicator of the quality of programs as all NIH research proposals are peer-reviewed and rigorously evaluated,” said Stephen M. Lanier, Ph.D., associate provost for research and pharmacology professor. Lanier credits the entire MUSC community with helping attract this support. Drs. Ray Greenberg, left, and Sabra Slaughter scoop ice cream to hospital security officer Jessica Johnson. MUSC President Ray Greenberg, M.D., Ph.D., added, “The important mechanism for continued research growth at MUSC is the state’s Centers of Economic Excellence program and the state's Research Infrastructure Act allows the university to recruit the best scientists and create university-based research centers that also will help grow South Carolina’s economy.” Dr. John Feussner, professor and chair of the Department of Medicine; board members Charlie Thomas, Melvin Berlinsky and Robin Tallon join the 200/100 celebration marking a research funding milestone. Friday, Oct. 10, 2008 |
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