University Of Memphis: University Of Memphis And Meharry Medical College Launch PECIR Program, Driving Research Collaborations

Memphis TN

09 June, 2021

4:43 PM

Description

Press release from the University of Memphis: June 9, 2021 In accordance with this effort, the University of Memphis and Meharry Medical College created the Program to Enhance Collaborative and Interdisciplinary Research (PECIR). The purpose of PECIR is to stimulate innovative, interdisciplinary, team-based research that involves investigators from Meharry Medical College (MMC) and the University of Memphis (UofM). The inaugural PECIR Call for Applications was released in spring 2021. The $50,000 research award is designed to promote new lines of research and provide seed money to give rise to future external funding opportunities.  A virtual Lightning Talk session was held in April to establish and grow collaborative interdisciplinary research networking between faculty members from both institutions. Faculty interested in applying for the PECIR research awards were given the opportunity to share a three-minute presentation about their research and research interests.  Ultimately, 11 teams comprised of faculty from both institutions responded to the inaugural PECIR call and six were selected for funding. The six selected projects and their principal investigators from the two institutions are: Funded projects and teams will have one year to build preliminary data, with the intention of the pursuit of external funding to continue the development of their work.    "This is the start of an exciting longer-term research partnership between our two institutions," said Dr. Jasbir Dhaliwal, executive vice president of Research & Innovation at the University of Memphis. "Science is inherently collaborative, and it is imperative that we pool our research capabilities to tackle the big health and medical challenges facing our communities. It is my belief that these research teams will be successful in attracting significant competitive research support from the National Institutes of Health given the focus of the projects."            Meharry's vice president for Research and Innovation Dr. Anil Shanker added, "These initial pilot research projects between Meharry and UofM faculty members will jump-start promising collaborations with potential impact on health equity in the populations we serve." The lightning talks in April showcased the research of 19 faculty from the University of Memphis and 18 from Meharry Medical College. For more information on this collaboration or on the PECIR Program, contact Dr. Nichole Saulsberry-Scarboro at [email protected] or Jared Elzey at [email protected]. This press release was produced by the University of Memphis. The views expressed here are the author's own.