New Research Center: Seed grant stimulates local collaboration at new research center

Rice University researchers working out of the planned Collaborative Research Center will get a $3 million jump-start with a seed grant from the John S. Dunn Research Foundation.
The Houston-based foundation awarded the funding to Rice University for the purpose of initiating collaborative research studies in biomedical science that have the potential for clinical applications.
One condition of the grant requires researchers to collaborate with scientists or physicians from other Texas Medical Center member institutions, which relates to the original mission of the center.
In announcing plans for the CRC in 2004, Rice officials made clear that their main goal was to facilitate joint research between Rice’s experts in biological sciences, engineering, computation, and the physical and mathematical sciences and Texas Medical Center physicians and scientists (see “Research hub unites Rice, TMC,” Nov. 5, 2004).
Charles Hall, president of the John S. Dunn Research Foundation, says his group’s top agenda has always been medical research.
“We get frustrated sometimes by not knowing who to give to for breast cancer research,” notes Hall, who also works as a tax attorney for Fulbright & Jaworski LLP.
“We’re very interested in getting a bang for our buck through collaborative work,” he says.
The late John Dunn Sr. established the Dunn Research Foundation in 1977 to support organizations and programs engaged in biomedical, educational and research programs, primarily in the greater Houston area. The foundation has awarded $1.5 million in various grants to Rice.
Richard E. Wainerdi, CEO of the Texas Medical Center, said in a written statement via e-mail that the TMC looks “forward to the development of some outstanding partnerships due to the foundation’s generosity.”
BRINGING RESEARCH OUT OF SILOS
Rice’s Collaborative Research Center is now slated to open in the summer of 2009, according to Kathleen Matthews, the Dean of Rice’s Weiss School of Natural Sciences.
The 10-story, 500,000-square-foot facility is currently under construction on the corner of University Boulevard and Main Street.
The first round of seed grants will be limited to cross-institutional teams of researchers within the CRC who have not previously worked together, and whose work shows potential for clinical use in the near future.
Matthews says the Dunn Foundation is helping Rice’s efforts by “bringing people together to do things that wouldn’t have happened if we stayed in our little silos.”
In terms of CRC occupants, the university’s entire department of bioengineering will be moving there once the building is ready, according to Matthews.
“They have been, from the very beginning of this idea, up front and very enthusiastic about being a part of this,” she says.
Also, some faculty from the university’s biochemistry and cell biology department will call the CRC home.
Rice is currently in ongoing discussions with other institutions, but Matthews could not say if any agreements had yet been finalized.
Initially, the CRC will hold seven to 10 labs per floor on eight of the 10 floors.
The grant from the Dunn Foundation, notes Matthews, will “catalyze new interactions by putting some resources out there for people who haven’t collaborated previously.”
Adds Matthews: “This gives them the resources to gather data, test an idea that they come up with together and take that to the next level.”For more information see www.Houstonrealtyadvisors.com or www.houstonrealtyadvisors.net