WVU 'Bucks for Brains' effort fuels research

As a state research matching fund has expended more than half its money, WVU officials and researchers applaud the program in its effort to bring research to West Virginia.

"For me, the research funds were critical to the growth of the program," said Laura Gibson, a researcher and deputy director of the Mary Babb Randolph Cancer Center.

WVU already has used more than 60 percent of its Research Trust Fund money, just three years into the program. The trust fund was created to provide matching funds to various science and technology gifts and grants WVU and Marshall University receive. The fund is also referred to as "Bucks for Brains."

Gibson said her lab was already up and running, so the matching funds have helped add researchers and sustain growth. She has received $630,000 in matching funds from the Research Trust Fund.

The money Gibson has had matched has gone to study why some leukemia cells don't respond to treatment, she said. The cells that don't respond to treatment can lead to a relapse. The hope is to find out why they don't respond and then development new treatment methods.

At the cancer center, the Research Trust Fund has had a positive impact, Gibson said. She added that it has not only helped in research, but in groups building collaborations with others.

The Research Trust Fund began in 2009 and to date, WVU has submitted $21,866,264 to be matched by the fund, according to a report filed with the Higher Education Policy Commission. That is 62.47 percent of the $35 million funds available to the university.

This year, WVU had $13.835 million in gifts to be matched — more than the previous two years combined.

WVU received 667 private gifts in 2011 that were eligible to be matched. In three years, the number of eligible matching gifts is 875.

This year, the Badzek Family Endowment for Nursing Research ($100), Christopher Cline Chair in Orthopedic Surgery ($2 million) and The Arch Coal Inc. Endowment for Mine Health and Safety Research ($300,000) are just a sampling of gifts that were matched by the Research Trust Fund.

As money is being paid out and the fund's interest begins to pay off, WVU Vice President of Research & Economic Development Curt Peterson said tangible results from the Research Trust Fund are just now emerging.

"This year we'll really begin to see the impact of them," he said.

There has been tremendous interest in the fund and Peterson said he was confident the money would be used before the 2016 deadline. Peterson will soon retire from his position at the university and WVU is searching for a replacement.

Peterson said he thinks the trust fund will now help slow some of the brain drain that has plagued the state. He added the fund is helpful in recruiting faculty when the university can show it has a matching fund available for research.

WVU President James Clements said the Research Trust Fund is a selling point to donors.

"If you give me a million, we can make it two," Clements said.

By doubling the donation it makes the donor happy, WVU happy and the state happy, Clements said.

He said he is worried about the future of donations when the trust fund expires and he would "absolutely" like to see a second round of funding.

source: necn

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