By Owen Boss
Staff Writer
Massachusetts is in line for more than $434 million in federal stimulus dollars aimed at developing cutting edge medical research. Three local institutions received a share of the pie in an announcement made Thursday.
The University of Massachusetts at Amherst was awarded 18 grants totaling more than $11.2 million to fund a wide variety of research projects and help pay for the construction of a $7 million, 23,400-square-foot research facility inside the college's Lederle Graduate Research Center.
Mount Holyoke College and Amherst College, meanwhile, will receive $48,000 for a DNA study and $141,310 to study metabolism respectively.
In a prepared statement, U.S. Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., said he was pleased to see so much Recovery Act funding distributed to in-state institutions. He attributed the success in securing the grants to the quality of medical research being done locally.
"These significant investments in medical research across Massachusetts will save lives, create jobs and ensure that our state remains a world leader in medical technology," Kerry's statement reads. Of the 12,000 grants awarded nationwide more than 1,000 were given to Massachusetts institutions. "I'm grateful that President Obama has once again recognized the cutting edge work being done by our medical institutions," he said.
The study at Mount Holyoke College, which will be investigated by Chemistry Professor Megan Elizabeth Nunez, will use $48,250 to study several ways human DNA is damaged and how to repair it in the hopes of easing the aging process and helping prevent the development of certain types of cancer.
Amherst College's Associate Professor John-Paul Baird will use $141,310 in grant funding to study how feeding and metabolic disorders, such as obesity, anorexia and gastric reflux disease can be treated medically by affecting the neural systems that control feeding.
For a complete list of approved Recovery Act grants nationwide, visit http://report.nih.gov/recovery/arragrants.cfm.
Owen Boss can be reached at oboss@gazettenet.com
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