RD108 - Commonwealth Health Research Board 2007 Annual Report


Executive Summary:
The Commonwealth Health Research Board (CHRB) provides grant funding for creative and innovative research projects that have scientific merit and hold promise for maximizing human health benefits for citizens of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The CHRB supports both new research efforts and the expansion or continuation of existing research.

Since its inception, the CHRB has made 101 grant awards totaling approximately $7 million in grant funding to institutions of higher education and other not-for-profit or nonprofit organizations that conduct health, or health related research, in Virginia. When the required 33% matching funds are added to the CHRB funded amount, the total project funds amount to $10.3 million for health research in Virginia.

Grants have been awarded to 16 institutions of higher education and other organizations across the Commonwealth to include: University of Virginia, Eastern Virginia Medical School, Virginia Commonwealth University, Virginia Military Institute, The College of William and Mary, University of Richmond, Longwood University, Norfolk State University, George Mason University, Lynchburg College, James Madison University, Sweet Briar College, Shenandoah University, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and the Riverside Health System. Grants have been awarded for research on a wide variety of important health conditions including: Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, cancer, asthma, Lyme disease, cardiovascular disease, renal disease, new chemotherapeutic interventions, and genetic diseases, to mention a few.

The CHRB encourages collaborative research efforts and gives priority to those research efforts where the Board’s support can be leveraged to foster contributions from other entities. CHRB grant recipients, for grant awards made in 1999 through 2003, have leveraged $13.8 million in additional private and federal grant funds to further their research studies. In addition, numerous publications in peer-reviewed scientific journals and periodicals as well as presentations of the data at regional and national scientific meetings have resulted from CHRB grant funded research projects.

We are proud of the accomplishments of the CHRB and our grant recipients as we work toward a healthier future for all Virginians. As Chairman, I am pleased to present the 2007 CHRB Annual Report.