Major Federal Grant to Boost Bowdoin's Biomedical Research

Story posted May 21, 2009

Bowdoin has been awarded more than $2.2 million in grant funding from the National Center for Research Resources, part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

The grant to Bowdoin is part of a five-year, $18 million collaborative grant awarded to the Maine IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE), a collaborative network that links 12 Maine research laboratories, universities, and colleges with lead institution Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory (MDIBL) and The Jackson Laboratory, both in Bar Harbor.

The grant has three components comprising two research grants for assistant professors of biology Jack Bateman, and Bill Jackman, and a third, institutional component, which expands student research opportunities by providing funding for:

  • A newly graduated senior who has conducted honors-level research to continue his or her research at Bowdoin for an additional year after graduation
  • Student travel to scientific conferences at the national, regional and state levels, where they will present their research
  • Support for student research (stipends and supplies), both during the summer and during the academic year
  • Bringing scientific speakers to Bowdoin
  • Electronic scientific journals through the Bowdoin Library
  • An intensive lab experience for students (INBRE short course), in which students and faculty travel to MDIBL to spend 1-2 weeks learning research techniques and participating in a research-oriented short course.

"These funds are instrumental in Bowdoin's efforts to cultivate a center for excellence in the biosciences," says Bowdoin College President Barry Mills.

"With excellent faculty, equipment and facilities, Bowdoin is well positioned to engage in a level of research that is unusually sophisticated for an undergraduate institution. As a result, our students are getting hands-on experience in exciting scientific frontiers that will better prepare them for graduate school or careers in science."

The grant ensures the continuation of INBRE, which was created in 2001 to enhance the ability of scientists and students in Maine to conduct cutting edge research and improve their ability to compete successfully for federal research dollars.

The grants were announced May 21, 2009, at the State House in Augusta.

"Biomedical research is an increasingly important sector of the Maine economy," said Maine Governor John Baldacci.

"Thanks in large part to the Maine INBRE, we will continue building a sophisticated, educated workforce to support research in Maine and enhance our capacity to be a leader in science and technology."

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