Everything is up at North Carolina Central University

DEEPAK KUMAR, PH.D. associate provost and dean BBRI

CAESAR JACKSON, PH.D. professor Mathematics and Physics

Sponsored research at North Carolina Central University (NCCU) has increased 97.4% to $53.1 million for the 2022-2023 school year, up from $26.9 million in the prior school year.

The reasons are many, said Deepak Kumar, Ph.D., associate provost and dean of sponsored research, and director of the Julius L. Chambers Biomedical and Biotechnology Research Institute (BBRI).

Most of the funding is through federal grants. For example, both the White House and National Institutes of Health have issued grants to research inequities that became apparent during the COVID pandemic.

“Health equity has been front and center,” Kumar said. “It has really taken off. Workforce development and diversifying the workforce. Getting students into science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) careers has helped a lot. Also, [there were] a couple [of] opportunities around digital and data equity.”

The five largest grants this year:

Hernan Navarro, Ph.D., past director of the Biomanufacturing Research Institute and Technology Enterprise (BRITE), received a $6.19 MILLION GRANT from the U.S. Department of Commerce to study workforce equity in biomanufacturing.

_______ Kumar received a $3.33 MILLION GRANT from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities to boost primary health care access for underserved, uninsured and underinsured communities throughout North Carolina. He also received a $1.99 MILLION GRANT from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to study COVID and long-COVID infections.

_______

Jon Gant, Ph.D., library and information science professor, received $2.92 MILLION from the U.S. Department of Commerce for the Digital Equity Leadership Program, an effort to bridge the digital divide (Siobahn Day Grady, Ph.D., assistant professor and program director of information science/systems has since taken over as principal investigator.)

Caesar Jackson, Ph.D., professor of physics in the department of mathematics and physics, received a $1.19 MILLION GRANT from the National Science Foundation for the DREAM STEM Project which aims to advance research, academics and entrepreneurship in STEM student success.

Other factors include messaging that sponsored research is important from the chancellor, provost, chairs, deans and faculty senate, new faculty who already have grants joining the university and joint efforts between NCCU and other universities and community-based entities including nonprofits, public health departments, medical clinics and faith-based organizations, Kumar said.

“The bulk of the credit goes to the faculty for writing more proposals,” said Provost and Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs David H. Jackson Jr. Jackson also credits Kumar for making sure proposals were processed in a timely fashion.

$6.19M Grant

$1.19M Grant

The dollar amounts come with two caveats, Kumar notes. First, some of the money arrives in the form of multi-year grants. All the money for a three-year grant, for example, might be paid to the university up front. That could make the first year look richer than the next two.

Second, some grants are not renewable. That could mean a drop in funding while new grants are applied for.

Even with those caveats, however, “Our numbers are significantly up,” Kumar said. “We are on a good trend.”

Sponsored research money tends to have a multiplier effect. Faculty conducting sponsored research take their new knowledge into the classroom, which benefits students, while also increasing the visibility of NCCU.

’BY MARK LAWTON

JON GANT, PH.D. professor Library and Information Sciences

SIOBAHN DAY GRADY, PH.D. program director Library and Information Sciences