Bothner Brian, Lusetti Shelley L, Seville Robert S, Baker Josh E, Barnes Brian, Hoffmann Peter R, Hovde Carolyn J
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Montana State University, Bozeman, Montana, United States.
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, New Mexico, United States.
Adv Physiol Educ. 2025 Jun 1;49(2):374-385. doi: 10.1152/advan.00217.2024. Epub 2025 Feb 13.
Since 2001, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have funded the Institutional Development Award (IDeA) Network of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE) to expand biomedical research capacity among states in which NIH funding was historically low. The Western IDeA Region comprises seven states: Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada, and Wyoming. Beginning in 2017, these states developed an interstate "supernetwork": the Regional Alliance of INBRE Networks (RAIN). RAIN's four initiatives are: ) holding regular INBRE program director/principal investigator (PD/PI) communication and strategy sessions; ) sharing research Core Facilities and programs; ) developing interstate undergraduate student research exchanges; and ) promoting interstate research collaborations. The seven INBRE PD/PIs meet monthly, usually virtually, to share administrative best practices, help each other problem-solve, and support one another's competitive renewals. Sharing IDeA-built Core Facilities and programs offers unique and/or faster services for researchers, without states needing to duplicate core capabilities. This substantially reduced costs. In 2019, ID-, MT-, and NM-INBREs estimated that sharing their existing Core Facilities and services saved $27.6 million over the course of one 5-yr funding cycle. Each undergraduate summer research program is open to other RAIN state students, with 29 student participants thus far. Faculty interdisciplinary research is promoted by a Collaboration Studio and special funding. To date, RAIN support has led to 18 scientific presentations, 12 peer-reviewed publications, and generated $1,400,000 in new NIH grants. RAIN is a model for other programs to share best practices, enhance interdisciplinary collaborations, limit redundant infrastructure, and share research/mentoring expertise. The IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE) programs in all seven Western region states formed an alliance to compensate for an essentially static National Institutes of Health (NIH) budget but a growing dynamic mission. Biomedical research capacity has grown and our collaboration model benefits grant renewal, access to research Core Facilities, student preparation for the workforce, and faculty interdisciplinary solutions for complex medical problems.
自2001年以来，美国国立卫生研究院（NIH）资助了卓越生物医学研究机构发展奖（IDeA）网络卓越生物医学研究（INBRE），以扩大历史上NIH资金投入较低的各州的生物医学研究能力。西部IDeA地区包括七个州：阿拉斯加、夏威夷、爱达荷、蒙大拿、新墨西哥、内华达和怀俄明。从2017年开始，这些州建立了一个州际“超级网络”：INBRE网络区域联盟（RAIN）。RAIN的四项举措是：1）定期举行INBRE项目主任/首席研究员（PD/PI）沟通和战略会议；2）共享研究核心设施和项目；3）开展州际本科生研究交流；4）促进州际研究合作。七个INBRE的PD/PI每月开会，通常是线上会议，分享管理方面的最佳实践，互相帮助解决问题，并支持彼此的竞争性续约。共享IDeA建设的核心设施和项目为研究人员提供了独特和/或更快的服务，而无需各州重复核心能力。这大幅降低了成本。2019年，爱达荷、蒙大拿和新墨西哥的INBRE估计，在一个5年的资助周期内，共享其现有的核心设施和服务节省了2760万美元。每个本科生暑期研究项目都向其他RAIN州的学生开放，到目前为止已有29名学生参与。通过合作工作室和专项资助促进教师跨学科研究。到目前为止，RAIN的支持已促成18次科学报告、12篇同行评审出版物，并获得了140万美元的NIH新资助。RAIN是其他项目分享最佳实践、加强跨学科合作、减少冗余基础设施以及分享研究/指导专业知识的典范。西部所有七个州的卓越生物医学研究IDeA网络（INBRE）项目结成联盟，以应对美国国立卫生研究院（NIH）基本静态的预算，但使命却日益动态化的情况。生物医学研究能力得到了提升，我们的合作模式有利于资助续约、使用研究核心设施、让学生为就业做好准备，以及让教师为复杂医学问题提供跨学科解决方案。
