March 30, 2020
\nPORTLAND, Maine The University of New England has been selected to join the Maine IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE), a collaborative network of state educational and research institutions that strives to strengthen Maine\u2019s capacity to conduct cutting-edge biomedical research.<\/p>\n
UNE will become the 14th member of the statewide research network on May 1.
\nLed by the MDI Biological Laboratory, the Maine INBRE is sponsored and funded by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
\nThe network was formed as part of the NIGMS\u2019 Institutional Development Award (IDeA) program, which builds research capacity in states that historically have had low levels of NIH funding. Maine is one of two dozen states eligible for the IDeA program.
\nSince its inception in 2001, the Maine INBRE program has brought in $86 million in direct federal research funding and leveraged $84 million in additional federal grants. Over 2,400 students have received hands-on biomedical research training through the program.
\n\u201cWe are excited to have UNE joining the Maine INBRE as a formal research partner,\u201d said James Coffman, Ph.D., principal investigator of the Maine INBRE and associate professor at the MDI Biological Laboratory. \u201cFor several years now, UNE has contributed informally to advancing the goals of the Maine INBRE by providing mentored research experiences for undergraduate research fellows from different INBRE partner institutions as well as through inter-institutional faculty research collaborations. It made sense to strengthen and build on that relationship by formally adding UNE to the network.\u201d
\nIn May, the MDI Biological Laboratory was awarded nearly $18 million from the NIGMS to renew the Maine INBRE grant for another five years.
\n\u201cWe are really excited about joining the Maine INBRE network,\u201d said Karen Houseknecht, Ph.D., UNE associate provost for Research and Scholarship. \u201cThis increases our opportunities to collaborate with our partners in the state on undergraduate education and research and graduate research. It gives us greater access not only to federal funding but also to research infrastructure across the state.\u201d
\nThe University\u2019s addition to the INBRE network builds upon the strong work conducted by UNE\u2019s Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) for the Study of Pain and Sensory Function, itself an NIGMS IDeA-funded program. COBRE programs support thematic, multidisciplinary research centers that strengthen institutional biomedical research capacity.
\nThe mission of UNE\u2019s COBRE, headed by Ian D. Meng, Ph.D., is to significantly contribute to the scientific understanding of the neurobiology of chronic pain, facilitating the discovery and development of novel therapies. The center\u2019s primary focus is to provide support to junior scientists as they establish individual independent research programs.
\nUNE\u2019s work through the COBRE program significantly influenced the NIH\u2019s decision to accept UNE into to the INBRE network, Houseknecht said.
\n\u201cOur addition to the network is a comment on the excellent work that we do here, the core facilities that have been built through our COBRE, and our collaborative spirit,\u201d she said.
\nCoffman said that UNE\u2019s classification as a \u201cHigh Research Activity\u201d (or \u201cR2\u201d) institution by Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education (CCIHE) will aid in fostering collaborative research opportunities across southern Maine, as well as statewide.
\n\u201cThe whole idea is that research institutions are providing resources, expertise, and research infrastructure for the benefit of partners across the whole statewide network, particularly undergraduate institutions. The undergraduate partner institutions in southern Maine have that benefit of having an R2 institution nearby,\u201d he said.
\nThe CCIHE reclassified UNE to the \u201cDoctoral Universities: High Research Activity\u201d category in its 2018 list. UNE is the only institution in all of New England to rise from the \u201cMaster\u2019s Colleges and Universities: Larger Programs\u201d category.
\nDedication to \u201cfocused research and scholarship\u201d is one of six priorities outlined by UNE President James D. Herbert in his strategic plan for the University. As such, students are engaged in research that is intellectually stimulating, regionally responsive, and globally relevant at all stages of their education.
\nIn addition to the COBRE\u2019s focused research on the neurobiology of pain, UNE researchers continue to pursue federally funded studies in the areas of pharmacology, novel therapeutic discovery, inflammation, and infectious disease. Additionally, the UNE Centers of Excellence in Public Health and Aging and Health focus on the health care needs of vulnerable populations in Maine.
\nHouseknecht said UNE\u2019s addition to the Maine INBRE network will further the University\u2019s commitment to research that confronts the pressing issues of society.
\n\u201cBiomedical research, ranging from basic to applied to translational, has never been more important as we face the challenges of emerging infectious diseases, aging populations, and the impact those will have on our most vulnerable populations and communities,\u201d she said. \u201cUNE researchers are dedicated to research that impacts human health and wellbeing and on training our students for careers in research and health care. Joining the Maine INBRE is an exciting new way to help us achieve these goals.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
March 30, 2020 PORTLAND, Maine The University of New England has been selected to join the …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-216","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-faculty-development"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.une.edu\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.une.edu\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.une.edu\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.une.edu\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/49"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.une.edu\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=216"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sites.une.edu\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":333,"href":"https:\/\/sites.une.edu\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216\/revisions\/333"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.une.edu\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=216"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.une.edu\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=216"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.une.edu\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=216"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.une.edu\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=216"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}