National Institutes of Health Awards OSU $11.3 Million Grant to Establish Respiratory Disease Center
07/23/2013
Stillwater -
A research team headed by Lin Liu, Ph.D., at Oklahoma State University's Center for Veterinary Health Sciences, has received a nearly $11.3 million federal grant to establish the Oklahoma Center for Respiratory and Infectious Diseases.
The award is the first Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) grant in OSU's history. It is spread over five years beginning this month through June 2018. COBRE funding comes from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences at the National Institutes of Health.
The Oklahoma Center for Respiratory and Infectious Diseases will bring together experts from Oklahoma State University, the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, and the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation.
"This funding will have a big impact on respiratory infectious diseases research programs throughout Oklahoma, not just at the veterinary center," said Liu, Regents Professor, Lundberg-Kienlen Professor in Biomedical Research and Director of the Lung Biology and Toxicology Lab in the veterinary center's Department of Physiological Sciences.
Investigators at the Oklahoma Center for Respiratory and Infectious Diseases will study respiratory syncytial virus, influenza virus and respiratory bacterial infection, covering disease pathogenesis, therapeutics, molecular mechanisms and bioengineering.
"Dr. Liu's leadership has shown what can be done when institutions in Oklahoma collaborate," said Stephen McKeever, PhD, OSU Vice President for Research and Technology Transfer. "The National Institutes of Health recognize the excellence of the research into infectious diseases being conducted in Oklahoma and this award will promote significant advances in several areas."