INVESTING IN RESEARCH

Funding for sponsored research at The University of Texas at Austin reached a new high in 2005.

The university received $417 million in research awards and grants in the 2005 fiscal year, which ended Aug. 31, 2005. That’s a 1.3 percent increase from $412 million in 2004.

Research funding has increased 48 percent since 1999 when it was $281 million.

Federal agencies increased their investment in Texas research, awarding $264 million in 2005, a $21 million increase from the previous year. The Department of Defense awarded $120 million, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), $50 million, and the National Science Foundation, $42 million.

Dr. Nicholas Peppas received a $2.1 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to investigate a more effective way to deliver insulin for diabetics. He is shown with students Kristy Wood and Omar Fisher. At left is a digital image of insulin molecules that have been fluorescently labeled.

It was the second year that NIH funding exceeded $50 million, indicating the university’s increasing excellence in health- and medical-related research. In the past three years, NIH funding for The University of Texas at Austin has totaled $147 million.

Projects range from investigations into diseases such as influenza, cancer, HIV/AIDS, alcoholism and drug abuse and diabetes and include areas such as family structure, drug delivery and DNA replication.

An example of the university’s medical-related research occurs in the lab of Dr. Nicholas Peppas, a professor of chemical engineering, biomedical engineering and pharmaceutics. He is one of several researchers investigating more effective ways to get drugs where they need to go in the body.

In May 2005, he received a $2.1 million NIH grant to analyze a polymer-based approach for providing insulin to the body that may eventually end the need to treat diabetes with daily injections.

Units reporting to the Office of the Vice President for Research received $166.2 million. The College of Engineering received $89.8 million and the College of Natural Sciences received $88.6 million.

Research expenditures, the amount of money spent to conduct research, reached $382 million in 2004, the latest year for which figures are available. They were $376 million in 2003 and have risen 56 percent since 1998.

To raise its profile among research agencies, the university established the position of associate vice president for research-program development and hired R. Ellyn Perrone, who held similar posts at has held similar jobs at The Ohio State University and Texas A&M University.

She will focus on making the university’s research more visible and increasing funding from federal agencies and Congress. Perrone will be a liaison among university researchers, the U.S. Congress and state and federal agencies and conduct strategic program development planning to enhance research. She reports to Dr. Juan Sanchez, vice president for research.

More than half of the university’s licensing agreements to commercialize research were executed in 2004, the latest year for which results are available. Office of Technology Commercialization made 23 licensing agreements during the year out of a total of 43.

Revenue from licensing agreements was more than $5 million in 2004. University researchers were granted 36 patents.

The office showcased UT research in its third Ready to Commercialize forum, which drew investors and entrepreneurs from throughout Texas and the nation. Texas Gov. Rick Perry hailed the cooperation between the university and industry in getting the technology from the labs and into the world where it create jobs and strengthen the Texas economy.

Several companies whose products are based on UT technology continued to grow during the year. Molecular Imprints, which makes photolithography machines for making semiconductors, reported strengthening sales and investment by venture capitalists. The company uses work by Dr. Grant Willson, professor in the departments of chemistry and biochemistry and chemical engineering, as the base for its products.

LabNow Inc., which develops small, low-cost diagnostic devices, prepared its products for market. It is to be used to monitor levels of CD4, a key blood marker in AIDS patients, in Africa. The technology is based on work from the lab of Dr. John McDevitt, a professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.

Tripos Inc., a St. Louis-based biotech company, bought Optive Inc., a company created by Dr. Robert Pearlman, a professor in the College of Pharmacy. Pearlman’s technology reduces the time and money needed to identify new drugs.