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Earlier this month, the University of Louisville learned it would receive a $4.4 million dollar grant by the National Institute of Health, the nation's primary medical research agency.
The grant will allow U of L to establish the Center for Environmental Genomics and Integrative Biology.
"This is a special type of designation," said center director Dr. Kenneth Ramos. "Very few universities get this type of grant and it is very competitive."
The type of grant that U of L has been rewarded is known as a "center" grant. According to Ellen De Graffenreid, health sciences communications director, U of L will now be among the top name schools in the environmental genomics field, and there will be more opportunities for graduate students in the environmental health field. There are only 22 NIH designated environmental health centers in the U.S., and only a few universities, including Harvard University, John Hopkins University and the University of North Carolina study gene interaction with the environment.
This grant was described by university President Dr. James R. Ramsey as among the most competitive in the nation.
"This is research that can really make a difference in the lives of people," Ramsey said.
The purpose of the center is to study genetics and the environment to learn more about human disease.
U of L will conduct interdisciplinary research among the schools of medicine, dentistry, public health & informational sciences and arts & sciences Ramsey said the primary focus of the center will be cancer and heart disease.
"Heart disease is the number one killer in the nation, and cancer is number three," he said, "and we in Kentucky are not as healthy as we need to be."
Heart disease accounts for approximately 30 percent of deaths in the state of Kentucky, and cancer claims nearly 10,000 Kentuckians per year.
Larry Cook, executive vice president for health affairs, stated in a press release, "Instead of studying these problems after the fact, the center will focus on what happened in the human body between an exposure to environmental contaminants and the development of disease and translate those findings to new treatments."
Ramos said three core teams of researchers will examine environmental cardiology, the interaction between the environment and humans that cause cancer and the developmental origins of health and disease.
Though researchers know there is a connection between environmental exposure and disease, the link between the cause and effect is not completely understood. A portion of the grant will also focus on local service to the community.
The Louisville Metro community will be educated through treatment techniques and preventive measures that can be taken to prevent disease, according to Ramsey. "By influencing the interactions genes have with the environment, the ramifications are huge," said Ramos.
The center's administrative offices core will be located in the Delia Baxter Building, while research will be conducted throughout the rest of the Health Sciences Campus.
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