A look at UofL's research funding throughout recent years.
A look at UofL's research funding throughout recent years.

The University of Louisville recently completed its most successful year securing funding for research since 2012. UofL research on everything from gum disease to e-cigarettes, robots to sexual assault investigations was funded by grants to UofL faculty in 2018-19.

“This is great news for our community and those touched by UofL’s research in medicine, education, engineering, art and countless other disciplines,” said Dr. Robert S. Keynton, UofL’s interim executive vice president for research and innovation. “Our faculty work tirelessly to secure the funding needed to explore, test and translate that research, so it can change, improve and even save lives.”

Preliminary numbers from Keynton’s office show UofL faculty received more than $152 million in competitive awards last fiscal year, an increase of $14 million over the previous year.

Among the projects receiving grants:

  • $18.1 million/5 years from the National Institutes of Health for a biomedical research center. Professor Nigel Cooper in Anatomical Science/Neurobiology runs the center which includes building a capacity for bioinformatics to serve the needs of genomics researchers at universities across the state.
  • $1.5 million from the National Science Foundation to develop a small additive manufacturing platform using microrobots and 3D printing. Speed School of Engineering professor Dan Popa secured the grant. Popa directs the Next Generation Systems robotics lab.
  • $1.5 million from the Kentucky Department of Education to support systems for improving students’ academic and behavioral (disciplinary) outcomes in every Kentucky school district. College of Education and Human Development faculty Terry Scott received the grant.

UofL faculty received a preliminary total of 950 grants from federal and state government as well as private sources in 2018-19.

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Mark Hebert
Following a 28-year career as a radio and television reporter, Mark Hebert joined the University of Louisville as the Director of Media Relations in 2009, serving as the main spokesperson. In 2015, Mark was named Director of Programming and Production. He’s now producing and hosting a radio show about “all things UofL”, overseeing the university’s video and TV productions and promoting UofL’s research operation. Mark is best known for his 22 years as the political and investigative reporter for WHAS-TV in Louisville where he won numerous awards for breaking stories, exposing corruption and objectively covering Kentucky politics. In 2014, Mark was inducted into the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame.