$105 million grant from Lilly Endowment to IU fuels Indiana Genomics Initiative
INDIANAPOLIS -- A $105 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. has positioned Indiana University to take a commanding role in the promising field of genomics research. This is the largest single grant ever received by the university and the largest single gift ever awarded by the Lilly Endowment.
The Indiana Genomics Initiative will create a world-class biomedical enterprise, building on existing resources at the IU School of Medicine. The school currently holds $130 million in research funding, which includes funding for the only federally sponsored gene vector production and research facility, for one of three molecular hematology research centers in the country, and for a National Cancer Institute-designated Cancer Research Center.
The initiative, referred to as INGEN, will advance educational opportunities for doctoral and master's degree scientists and computer specialists at both the Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis campus and the Bloomington campus.
N. Clay Robbins, president of the Endowment, said, "Lilly Endowment was immediately attracted to this initiative because it builds strategically on Indiana University's recognized strengths in informatics and supercomputing, supported in part by the Endowment-funded Indiana Pervasive Computing Research Initiative. The potential for the results of this grant to attract a stellar array of intellectual talent and expertise to Indiana -- along with attendant employment opportunities -- is especially exciting.
"The Endowment," Robbins noted, "also is greatly impressed by the commitment of IU as a part of this initiative to develop a major center for the study of bioethics, especially relating to genomics research."
IU President Myles Brand responded, "IU is very happy to partner with the Lilly Endowment to create the Indiana Genomics
Initiative. Through its approval of this funding
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Contact: Pam Perry
pperry@iupui.edu
317-274-7722
Indiana University
13-Dec-2000