NIH T32 Grant Awarded for GSBSE

The University of Maine has received a five-year, $1.07 million Institutional Research Training Grant (T32) from the National Institutes of Health. This funding is the first of its kind to be awarded in the state of Maine from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences.

According to the NIH, the T32 program supports broad and fundamental, early-stage research training for predoctoral participants in centers that have significant impact on the health-related research needs of the US.

The UMaine Graduate School of Biomedical Science and Engineering (GSBSE) is uniquely positioned to train doctoral students interested in life science and medical-related careers. The doctoral program utilizes its partnerships with renowned research institutions that span the state of Maine in transdisciplinary methods of collaboration and team science.

The awarded T32 grant is on “Transdisciplinary predoctoral training in biomedical science and engineering.” In addition to the $1.07 million received from NIH, UMaine is providing $0.5 million in direct contribution to the award, thus resulting in the total amount of $1.57 million in support of this initiative.

The initial Principal Investigators for the grant proposal were Dr. David Neivandt of UMaine and Dr. Lucy Liaw of Maine Medical Center Research Institute. In her new role as GSBSE Program Director, Dr. Clarissa Henry will be the UMaine Principal Investigator of the awarded grant. This program will support predoctoral students in the program who perform mentored research at UMaine or any of the partner institutions, including Maine Medical Center Research Institute, The Jackson Laboratory, Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory, and University of New England.

Trainees in the program will be well-positioned to make fundamental discoveries and breakthroughs leading to significant advancements in human health and wellbeing.

Media contact: Christel Peters, 207.581.3571