IU's Commitment to Indiana's Future
Leadership
Life Sciences: IU plans for greatness
D. Craig Brater
Vice President for Life Sciences
Dean and Walter J. Daly Professor, IU School of Medicine
In December, Vice President Michael McRobbie, Arts and Sciences Dean Kumble Subbaswamy, and I presented a proposal to the IU trustees to organize the university's research programs to meet our goal of becoming a national leader in the life sciences. Our proposal builds on the initiatives IU has put in place over the past six years, made possible by generous private support, the diligence and accomplishments of our research faculty, the support of city and state government, and partnerships with the business sector.
IU's effort to create change in Indiana began with a partnership with the Lilly Endowment. In the past six years, the Endowment granted $244 million to IU for a wide range of life-sciences initiatives.
This tremendous infusion of resources, coupled with $890 million in research funding to IU faculty during the past two years, has fueled an explosion of scientific inquiry in the many fields that make up the life sciences—from analytical and organic chemistry to evolutionary and developmental biology, from genomics and proteomics to medical and bioinformatics.
And still, to reach our goal we must double our research funding by 2013.
Through our strategic plan for the School of Medicine, we have determined that a focus on three categories of human health will best help us meet our research goal and address the major issues that are especially troublesome for Hoosiers: the many forms of cancer, particularly those created by poor health choices like tobacco use; illnesses of the aging brain such as Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia; and diabetes and obesity and their sequelae such as kidney failure, loss of limbs and eyesight, and cardiovascular diseases.
Physically, our campuses are morphing into new configurations to support the kinds of research IU must do to compete at the national level. Although this construction boom gives us much-needed space for our life scientists, we estimate that to double our research funding by 2013, we need to add 1 million square feet of lab space in Indianapolis and 500,000 square feet of lab space in Bloomington. At the top of all researchers' lists of requirements is space—well-designed space that maximizes access to scarce resources and promotes collaboration. In fact, creating collaborations is a priority in our plan to successfully compete for peer-reviewed federal grants.
Doubling the total amount of contract and grant awards to IU by 2013 will be the result of our ability to attract and retain scientists, who in turn are provided the resources that make it possible for them to compete for those awards. Where we stand in the national rankings for federal grants tells us how well we're doing.
Reaching all of these objectives is essential if we expect our stellar group of life scientists to create discoveries that will generate a healthier population and a stronger economy. They will also create highly competitive graduate and undergraduate programs. Outstanding students go to universities where they can study with outstanding and successful faculty. From the business majors who will run biotech industries, to the scientists and researchers whose discoveries provide more cost-effective health care, to entrepreneurs who generate businesses that stir our state's economy, this initiative in the life sciences will attract IU graduates who will stay and make Indiana a healthier state.
With my appointment as vice president for life sciences, President Adam W. Herbert and the IU trustees have declared that they are prepared to take IU from being good in the life sciences to a fully blown enterprise that attains greatness over the next decade. We will be engaged in fleshing out the details of that 10-year plan during the next six months, identifying our resources—both what we have and what we need—and sources of funding. I will appreciate all the advice I get from those who can help us achieve this goal. And I thank the many who embrace this exciting challenge and goal.
Originally appeared in Indiana Alumni Magazine, May/June 2006. Reprinted with permission.
