Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained

Thanks to backing from supporters of the College throughout the state, the Illinois legislature granted our College $1.5 million late last spring as part of the Governor's Venture Technology Program. I'm pleased to report that those funds have been awarded after a competitive review process.

This program, a first for our College, encourages innovative, even risky, ideas. Essentially we want to provide seed money for scientific investigations that might not be competitive within more conservative funding sources. Projects that show promise should be better able to attract additional support from traditional sources in the future.

Twelve of 21 projects proposed by individual faculty members were funded at around the $25,000 level, and six collaborative projects received an average award of $55,000. Individual projects explore promising leads on any veterinary or biomedical topic. Collaborative projects involve researchers from outside the principal investigator's home department in efforts that build upon identified areas of research strength in the College.

In addition, each department and the diagnostic laboratory received a portion of the grant money to purchase needed equipment, including a new gas chromatograph, a laser dissection unit to assist in analyzing genetic changes in tumor cells, and a computed tomography unit.

I feel confident that we will see excellent returns on this investment, that scientific breakthroughs will arise through research that may not otherwise have been possible.

But in the current climate of budget cuts, continuing this sort of initiative will be difficult. We will rely on the phone calls and influence of our constituents to convince legislators that investments in veterinary research are valuable and funding for this program should be recurring.

 

Governor's Venture Technology Program Collaborative Grants Common Molecular Pathways of Protection Against Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury D. Gross, W. Arden, W. Haschek-Hock, PIs; D. Bunick, D. Freeman, P. Constable, S. Marks, Co-PIs Magnetic Resonance Research Opportunities in Veterinary Medicine R. Clarkson, B. Odintsov, PIs Effect of Irradiation on Differentiation and Growth Factor Expression During Bone Transportation N. Ehrhart, PI; J. Eurell, A. Johnson, D. Gaddy-Kurten, D. Pack, E.J. Ehrhart, Co-PIs Contraception in Male Feral Dogs and Cats R. Hess, S. McCullough, C. Shipley, J. Katzenellenbogen, PIs Bioresorbable Nanohybrid Materials for Drug and Gene Delivery B. Kitchell, PI; R. Clarkson, T. Fan, D. Dunning, N. Ehrhart, M. Wallig, T. Martin, W. Kriven, Co-PIs Molecular Pathology: The Characterization of Specific Neoplastic Lesions in Animals by Cellular, Subcellular and Molecular Techniques V. Valli, PI; E.J. Ehrhart, B. Kitchell, J. Messick, T. Fan, Co-PIs Individual Projects The Role of Lipid Mediators in Embryo Implantation I. Bagchi, PI; M. Bagchi, Co-PI Conditional Knockout of the Mouse Androgen Receptor Gene D. Bunick, PI; P. Cooke, Co-PI Molecular Mechanism of Genistein-Induced Thymic Atrophy P. Cooke, PI; D. Bunick, Co-PI The Effect of Sustained Release TGF-Beta on Healing in Preoperatively Irradiated Bone N. Ehrhart, PI; R. Jamison, J. Eurell, G. Pijanowski, Co-PIs Investigating Alpha-Chymase Expression in Canine Mast Cell Tumors T. Fan, PI; B. Kitchell, M. Wallig, Co-PIs Development of Immortalized Cell Lines for the Study of Endocrine Disruptors in Male Reproduction R. Hess, PI Using Plasmodium Falciparum Sporozoites Produced in Vitro to Infect Human Hepatocytes: An Untried Approach Towards Vaccine Development M. McAllister, J. Li, PIs Characterization of Cardiac Troponin I and T in Animals with Cardiac Disease M. Oyama, D. Sisson, P. Solter, M. Raffe, J. Foreman, PIs Delayed Neurotoxicity Following Perinatal PCB and MEHG Exposure S. Schantz, PI Circadian Control of Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone S. Tischkau, PI Pasteurella Multocida Sialylation and the Host-Pathogen Interaction E. Vimr, PI Role of Interferon-a on the Development of Immunity to Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Virus F. Zuckermann, PI