Science Market Update

$1.9M in Research Funding Awarded to University of Utah

Written by Jennifer Nieuwkerk | Mon, Jun 10, 2013

Lab suppliers marketing life science solutions and hoping to generate lab sales leads may find the latest research funding news at the University of Utah offers insight into a compelling market. The University of Utah has recently been approved for $1.9 million in research funding from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI). The award will be used for a project in which researchers study asthma in children and how more effectively monitoring the disease could lead to better health.

According to News Medical, the project will be led by Flory Nkoy, M.D., M.S., M.P.H., who now works as Associate Research Professor at the University of Utah Department of Pediatrics, Research Director for the Division of Pediatric Inpatient Medicine and Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Biomedical Informatics.

"The primary beneficiaries of this award are children with asthma. Our research enables and empowers families and their providers to take charge of a difficult to control condition, and create a model for sustainable, cost-effective patient care and smart utilization of information technology in a healthcare setting. This model is replicable across the country and has the potential to shape the future of asthma care delivery in the nation," Nkoy said.

PCORI has given over $88.6 million in research funding to 51 projects, of which the University of Utah study is one. Projects were selected in a competitive review process in which 400 research teams applied. Scientific merit, how well projects engaged with patients and family, strong methods, and fitting in with PCORI’s research goals were the basis upon which proposals were reviewed and selected for receiving research funding.

 

University of Utah

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

 

Nkoy and his team of researchers have created the e-AsthmaTracker (e-AT), a new tool that helps make medical decision-making easier by allowing for facilitated communication between parents and primary doctors. The e-AT connects parents to their child’s medical treatment by encouraging weekly monitoring of their child’s chronic asthma symptoms and offering insight on recognizing warning signs of asthma attacks. In the event of a severe attack, parents better understand how to intervene. The device also provides doctors with real-time information to guide them in the course of asthma therapy.

In addition to receiving this $1.9 million award, the University of Utah has many other sources of research funding that make marketing life science solutions and generating lab sales leads at the school an attractive option. In 2010, the NSF ranked the University of Utah 50th in the country for total R&D expenditures in the life sciences, the total amount spent being $237.7 million. In 2011, the NIH ranked the school 43rd for direct plus indirect costs in the life sciences, excluding R&D contracts and ARRA awards. The total expenditures that year were $135.8 million.

In 2011, the University of Utah’s endowment was $668.6 million. The school’s research funding also increased in 2010 by 27% to $450.6 million. A great deal of this research funding came from economic stimulus money provided by the federal government.

If you are a lab supplier marketing life science solutions and hoping to increase lab sales leads and these research funding statistics sound attractive, Biotechnology Calendar, Inc. invites you to attend our annual Salt Lake City BioResearch Product Faire™ Event on August 15, 2013. Last year, the Salt Lake City BioResearch Product Faire™ Event was visited by 200 attendees. Of those attending, 56 were purchasing agents, professors and post docs, and 20 were lab managers. The visitors came from 15 research buildings and 28 departments across campus.

Biotechnology Calendar, Inc. is a full-service science research marketing and events-planning company that has been organizing life science marketing events for 20 years. If you would like to generate lab sales leads and market your life science solutions at a school closer to home, we encourage you to view our 2013 calendar of events. For more funding information on the University of Utah, click on the button below.