Photo courtesy of Georgia State UniversityATLANTA—Annual research awards of $101 milion received in fiscal year 2015 at Georgia State University exceeded the $100 million milestone for the first time in the university’s history.

The total is $20 million more than the previous year.

“This achievement is a testament to the strength and competitiveness of our faculty, staff and students,” said James Weyhenmeyer, vice president for research and economic development at Georgia State. “In the last four years, we have done very well at securing outside support for research, which creates jobs and supports innovation in Atlanta and the state of Georgia. Our aim is to keep Georgia State among the nation’s premier urban public research universities and one of Georgia’s best economic engines.”

Federal sponsorship, which accounts for more than 70 percent of the total research volume at Georgia State, grew by 21 percent. This included increases of 33 percent from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and 18 percent from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Research grants and contracts from industry grew more than threefold.

Among the year’s key awards were:

• A $4.5 million grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation awarded to Karen Minyard (Georgia Health Policy Center) for improving population health through innovations in financing;
• Nearly $3 million in combined awards from the city, state and various foundations to Walt Thompson (College of Education and Human Development) and the After-School All-Stars Atlanta program to continue providing comprehensive after-school programs for at-risk students in the metro-Atlanta area;
• A $2.4 million grant from NIH awarded to Zhoglin Xie and Ming Zou (Center for Molecular and Translational Medicine) to prevent heart failure in type 2 diabetic patients;
• A $1.5 million grant from NSF awarded to Rafal Angryk (Physics and Astronomy) to advance knowledge of solar phenomena and its impact on space weather;
• An $850,000 grant from Pfizer awarded to Michael Eriksen (School of Public Health) to expand tobacco control efforts in China; and
• A $500,000 innovative grant from NIH awarded to Timothy Bartness (Center for Obesity Reversal) to further basic research with clinical significance to obesity reversal therapies.

“We have boosted Georgia State’s reputation as a nationally recognized public research university, expanded collaborative initiatives and increased economic development activities,” said Weyhenmeyer. “The university’s ‘very high research activity’ designation by the Carnegie Foundation speaks to our success and further confirms that Georgia State is competing with the nation’s top universities.”

Researchers at Georgia State use the university’s state-of-the art research facilities and work across the disciplines to address critical quality of life issues, such as cancer, obesity, inflammation, vaccines, child and adult literacy, and public health issues related to smoking, among others.

For more information about research at Georgia State, visit research.gsu.edu.