Sen. McConnell secures more than $35 million for projects at university

U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell has announced that the Senate has approved his request of nearly $28 million for projects at UofL that are included in the 2005 fiscal year Omnibus Appropriations Conference Report.

The bill must now go to President George W. Bush for his signature.

Funding through the omnibus report comes in addition to more than $6.3 million included in the Department of Defense Appropriation Bill passed last August, bringing the university's total funding secured by Sen. McConnell in the 2005 appropriations cycle to more than $35 million. Since 1998, McConnell has secured more than $100 million for UofL priorities.

"We are deeply gratefully for Sen. McConnell's success in securing funding for these important projects," said UofL President James Ramsey, Ph.D.

"Few academic institutions can match the commitment that UofL enjoys from Senator McConnell. He understands the critical role higher education plays in the economic success of our state, and he works tirelessly to support research that will make a difference in people's lives."

McConnell said the funds will help move UofL forward.

"Everyone is aware of what a great season the football Cards are achieving, but with these earmarks it is the research faculty and students who are the year's biggest winners," said McConnell. "President Ramsey is a talented leader who has articulated an exciting vision for the University. I am proud to help him in pursuit of the important goal of making UofL a national leader."

McConnell secured the following health-sciences related funding for UofL:

-- $10.25 million for a 134,700-square-foot biomedical research building planned for the university's health sciences campus. The new facility will include space to support cancer research and is part of UofL's effort to attain designation from the National Cancer Institute as a Comprehensive Cancer Center.

-- $2 million for the UofL Regenerative Medicine for the Treatment of Ischemic Heart Disease project, which will help the university continue its efforts to identify deficiencies leading to heart failure and pursue tissue engineering to repair damaged hearts. This is in addition to $4.2 million in funding secured by McConnell in previous years to support cardiovascular research at the UofL and Jewish Hospital Cardiovascular Innovation Institute.

-- $450,000 for the UofL Cancer Agripharmaceutical Institute. UofL, in cooperation with Large Scale Biology, an Owensboro, Ky., firm, has developed a plan to produce cancer vaccines through the use of tobacco plants. This project not only will impact dramatically the development of cancer vaccines but also could help Kentucky tobacco farmers develop alternative uses for their tobacco plants. The institute also supports the university's effort to be designated as a Comprehensive Cancer Center by the National Cancer Institute.

-- $500,000 for the UofL Computational Biology Project in Oral Health. These funds will be used to help health care professionals develop new biotechnology-based diagnostic tools and therapeutics for the early detection of chronic conditions, birth defects and periodontal disease. The university hopes the project will address both the high levels of tooth loss and the prevalence of birth defects, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and other chronic conditions in Kentucky.

-- $300,000 for the UofL Chronic Disease Management Education Program in Cancer to help the university design and test a chronic disease management program specifically for cancer patients, their families and their clinical caregivers, including oncologists. The project will help cancer patients and their families learn to live with cancer while research teams work aggressively to develop cures and will help the university meet its goal to be designated as a Comprehensive Cancer Center by the National Cancer Institute.

-- $3 million for the UofL Pediatric Clinical Proteomic Center to support research on proteomics technology, which focuses on the products of genes and how changes in specific patterns or alignment of proteins impact functions in the body.

--$2 million in funding for the UofL Space Flight Exploration Project to simulate the microgravity environment of space and perform a series of experiments to study simultaneous changes in brain processing and cognition.