SURP: IDeA Networks of Biomedical Research Excellence in Kentucky

Summary: The Kentucky Institutional Development Award (IDeA) Network of Biomedical Research Excellence (KY INBRE) is a collaborative network of educational institutions working to build capacity for health- related and biomedical research in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. The KY INBRE network is currently composed of 25 institutions that are geographically distributed across the state of Kentucky. The partner institutions include 2 research intensive universities, and 7 primarily undergraduate institutions (PUIs). Another 16 PUIs participate in KY INBRE activities. The KY INBRE program is managed by 4 interactive components. The Administrative Core oversees student research, faculty recruitment, curriculum development, the budget and financial plan, as well as internal evaluation and reporting. The governance committees provide oversight, evaluation, and guidance to ensure adherence of the KY INBRE to its mission in building research capacity across the state. The Developmental Research Project Program provides research funding, mentoring, oversight, and training to enable KY INBRE faculty to successfully compete for independent NIH funding. The Data Science Core provides education, training, and equipment access to assist investigators and trainees collect, efficiently analyze, and share research data. In the next funding cycle, these 4 components will work together to continue to build biomedical research capacity, strengthen research culture, develop faculty research careers, and provide students with research opportunities to help develop a strong biomedical research workforce in Kentucky. We propose to accomplish these goals with the following overall specific aims. 1) Provide engaging research experiences to recruit KY undergraduate students into biomedical science majors/careers. 2) Promote research infrastructure and curriculum development in KY institutions. 3) Develop research skills of faculty and trainees to build research capabilities in KY. 4) Recruit faculty with biomedical research training and provide mentored career development to build research capacity in KY institutions.