DKICP continues biomedical research in joint project with UH Manoa

Researchers at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy (DKICP) will receive more than $800,000 a year for five years in federal funding that will help strengthen a collaborative research program with UH Mānoa.

The IDeA Networks for Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE) program in Hawaiʻi, which has been supported for more than 10 years by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has recently received an additional $18.4 million over five years of support. The renewal allows the collaboration to continue expanding and improving biomedical research in Hawaiʻi.

John M. Pezzuto, dean of DKICP, leads the UH Hilo effort, and works with UH Mānoa Principal Investigator Robert Nichols, professor of Cell and Molecular Biology and Program Coordinator David Easa, both at the John A. Burns College of Medicine (JABSOM).

“This is important because it’s a competitive renewal, which means the grant wasn’t automatically extended. We had to compete with top research facilities throughout the country,” Pezzuto said. “And because one of the focuses is on fostering biomedical careers among students, we can pay it forward for years to come.”

In addition to core functions and support for undergraduate research projects, the UH Hilo component of the grant will support studies being conducted in DKICP laboratories.

“The hope is that work conducted under the auspices of INBRE will be leveraged into larger projects supported by extramural funding agencies,” Pezzuto said.

The grant also supports researchers and student enrichment programs at Chaminade University, Honolulu and Hawaiʻi Pacific University, Kaneohe. It also funds projects and programs at outreach institutions Kapiolani Community College, Honolulu, Leeward Community College, Pearl City, UH Maui College, Kahului, and Windward Community College, Kāneʻohe.