December 4, 2000

Contact: Lynn Bretz, University Relations, (785) 864-8866; Randy Attwood, KUMC, (913) 588-5240; Andrea Ernst, MRI, (816) 753-7600, x1201.

KUMRI alliance awards collaborative grants

LAWRENCE -- Two research grants worth $20,000 each have been awarded to scientific teams from the University of Kansas and Midwest Research Institute. The one-year grants were funded by the KUMRI Strategic Alliance. They are the first internal awards in support of the collaborative agreement signed by KU and MRI last year.

The two award teams and project titles are Mary Gerkovich, Biobehavioral Sciences Section, Midwest Research Institute, and James Grobe, KU Department of Psychology, for "Tobacco Consumption Behavior and the Cognitive Effects of Tobacco Smoking," and Jonathan J. Li and Sara Antonia Li, KU Medical Center Department of Pharmacology, Toxicology and Therapeutics, and Kathleen Phillips, Pharmaceutical Product Development Division, Midwest Research Institute, for "Promotion of Estradiol-Induced Breast Cancer in Female ACI Rats by Ethanol."

"Through the Collaborative Research Award program, the KUMRI Strategic Alliance is helping to forge partnerships upon which future research programs will be built," said Peter Smith, chair of the KUMRI advisory committee. "The enthusiastic response and the high quality of proposals submitted for funding under this program bodes well for KUMRI collaborative research effort."

According to Smith, the emergence of the Kansas City region as a leader in biomedical research will depend heavily on collaborative ventures among research institutions such as KU and MRI.

Gerkovich and Grobe say they will use their grant to assemble a number of scientists from both institutions to create a comprehensive study of the physiological, subjective, cognitive and behavioral aspects of tobacco and nicotine addiction. According to Grobe, the team of scientists will use a more complete method of study that will cover crucial elements overlooked in previous research -- elements such as controllability over tobacco or nicotine intake.

"Without the support of KUMRI, it would be very difficult to draw these people together for such a project," Grobe said. "To me, the most exciting part is the potential for creativity that far exceeds any of us working on this project on our own."

KU's Jonathan Li says numerous studies have shown a positive association between drinking alcohol and risk for breast cancer. Using a special model of rats susceptible to breast cancer, the KU and MRI scientists will work towards understanding the toxicological and biochemical mechanisms involved in the process.

The KUMRI Strategic Alliance was established in November 1999 to take advantage of opportunities to collaborate on research, share resources and minimize costs, with the ultimate goal of raising the profile of science and technology research in the region. The alliance crosses all of the research disciplines of both institutions and all three Greater Kansas City locations -- Lawrence and Kansas City, Kan., and Kansas City, Mo. Internal one-year grants are awarded by KUMRI to stimulate an area of research for further outside funding.