Thomas Gonnella (center) engages in research collaborations that enable students Janelle Berthold and Travis Leedahl to gain laboratory experience

Eight years ago when the National Institutes of Health launched a program to help North Dakota and 22 other states attract more funding for biomedical research, collaborations between research universities and primarily undergraduate institutions were strongly encouraged.

Centered between UND in Grand Forks and NDSU in Fargo, Mayville State University is making the most of its unique position in the Red River Valley Research Corridor.

Two grants from the NIH National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) have not only enabled MSU to create collaborations among researchers, but also to steer students toward careers in health sciences, add faculty, expand and improve laboratories, and attract funding for new research projects.

“Without this program, these opportunities just wouldn’t be here,” says Gary Hagen, MSU president. “I’m excited about it. It’s been great for us.”

The UND School of Medicine and Health Sciences in 2001 received the first grant under the NCRR’s Biomedical Research Infrastructure Network (BRIN). The second phase of the program came in 2004 as the IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE), expected to be renewed this year.

“INBRE has definitely allowed us to set up some truly meaningful collaboration with UND, NDSU and surrounding research labs,” says Thomas Gonnella, PhD, MSU associate professor of chemistry. “We’re forming collaborations where there is a significant exchange of research talent between the institutions.”