MT COBRE: CORE FACILITY DEVELOPMENT

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This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. A major goal of the COBRE project is to enhance research competitiveness by increasing the access investigators have to state-of-the-art equipment through the development of core facilities. As outlined on our organizational chart, investigators have access to six critically needed Core Research Facilities (CRFs) on campus. Four of these CRFs are directly funded by the COBRE CSFN: Mass Spectroscopy and Proteomics, Molecular Histology and Fluorescence Imaging, Molecular Computation and Modeling, and BioSpectroscopy. Importantly, these CRFs are supported not only by the present COBRE award, but also by the University Research Office and State of Montana match funding, as well as by NIH and NSF grants awarded to UM. The CRFs have continued to develop and, as planned, have served not only to enhance individual projects but also to promote collaborations. Projects emerging from these cores have begun to produce publications and to be included as a critical resource in a number of funded R01 applications by CSFN investigators as well as in submitted applications. It should be noted in this regard that in almost every instance the RO1 review sheets from submitted grants (scored and unscored) continue to characterize the research environment as very supportive of the proposed projects. Of particular note in regard to the past year¿s activity was the development of a University-wide plan to support CRFs. There is a clear consensus on the part of both UM investigators and administrators that the long-term operation of all of the Cores is critical to University's (and COBRE) mission of building competitive programs in biomedical research. It is also readily acknowledged that the critical mass of investigators on campus will not likely grow to such an extent that a majority of these CRFs can be supported solely on the basis of user fees. Thus, continued support will be dependent upon a multifaceted strategy that includes: infrastructure grants (e.g., COBRE, EPSCoR), State match, individual RO1s, multi-investigator grants, and the University¿s Office of the VP for Research. A management plan is also in place. The four CRF directors comprise a steering committee and advisory group with a number of specific goals including: (a) CSFN ¿research roundtable,¿ (b) budget, (c) CSFN reporting functions, and (d) overall facility integration and management. In addition to the four directors, the COBRE PD (R Bridges), the VP for Research, (D Dwyer), Asst to the COBRE PD (K Stewart), and two external advisory members will serve on the steering committee (quarterly meetings) that is responsible for the fiscal, staff, reporting and operations. This committee will eventually grow to include the other Core Facilities on campus.