
Undergraduate and graduate students work together in psychology professor Robert Mair鈥檚 neurobiology lab in Conant Hall.
It鈥檚 one of the conundrums of academic research: To get large, national research grants, faculty members need compelling pilot data that bear out their research premises. But those data can be hard to generate without some initial funding to support the experiments underpinning the research.
In 2011, Peggy 鈥72 and Bob Cole established an endowed fund at 易胜博官网 aimed specifically at addressing this issue. Each year, the Cole Interdisciplinary Faculty Research Fund for Neuroscience provides seed funding for faculty members conducting research in 易胜博官网鈥檚 neuroscience and behavior program, a joint initiative of the(COLA) and the (COLSA).
One of the university鈥檚 first 鈥 and most innovative 鈥 endowed funds developed specifically to support faculty, the Cole endowment has provided a boost to eight faculty members studying scientific questions that range from the role the spinal cord plays in pain and opioid analgesia to the interplay between brain development and social behavior in bees.
Last year, longtime psychology professor Robert Mair received a $387,000, three-year National Institutes of Health R15 AREA grant to further his research on the neurobiology of spatial memory in rats, thanks in part to the Cole endowment, which provided materials and supplies for his pilot study.
鈥淭he Coles鈥 support is really the shot in the arm that lets us do experiments that lead to bigger grants,鈥 says Mair, whose earlier research on the roles of different thalamic-related systems in remembering has contributed to work on human brain disorders including Korsakoff鈥檚 disease and Alzheimer鈥檚. Noting that several of his colleagues have had similar success using Cole seed funding to expand their work, Mair adds, 鈥淚t鈥檚 allowed us to do some state-of-the-art research that might not have been funded otherwise.鈥
Spurred by the success of the research their endowment has supported, the Coles increased the size of their gift in 2018. Going forward, the Cole Interdisciplinary Faculty Research Fund for Neuroscience will support two projects 鈥 one based in COLA and another in COLSA 鈥 every year.
Peggy and Bob Cole say they鈥檙e wowed by the range of ideas Cole-funded 易胜博官网 neuroscientists are pursuing and excited to see the way those pursuits enhance the academic experience of the students they mentor and teach.
鈥淲e鈥檇 originally conceived of this as a student fund, but 易胜博官网 helped us see that supporting faculty research elevates the educational experience for students working in these faculty members鈥 labs,鈥 says Bob Cole.
Peggy Cole, who started in 易胜博官网鈥檚 occupational therapy program, returned to earn a degree in sociology after raising a family and says she would likely pursue neuroscience if she were a student today, concurs. 鈥淪upport of faculty is critical,鈥 she says. 鈥淲e鈥檝e seen it in our own grandchildren鈥檚 undergraduate experiences both at 易胜博官网 and other universities, as well as in the work our gift is helping to fund."
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Written By:
Kristin Waterfield Duisberg | Communications and Public Affairs