For Release April 3, 2017 (Kansas City, MO)
The Hall Family Foundation is providing the Kansas City Area Life Sciences Institute (KCALSI) funding to support grants that further its regional vision of One Health, the nexus of human and animal research. The program will offer five grants worth $50,000 each, annually for the next three years targeting advanced, collaborative research to improve health for people and animals.
“The Hall Family Foundation has generously funded many innovative programs that support research and education in the greater Kansas City region,” said Dr. Wayne Carter, President and CEO, KCALSI. “We are grateful that the Foundation is supporting One Health research. Our region has significant strength in human and animal medicine and there are many opportunities to advance research by looking at the nexus or intersection between people and animals.”
One Health recognizes that the health of people is connected inextricably to the health of animals and the environment. Although the concept is not new, it has become more important in recent years according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention because many factors have changed the nature of interactions between people, animals, and our environment. One Health research opportunities at the nexus of human and animal disease include bone cancer in dogs and children that exhibits identical gene expression patterns. Infectious and zoonotic diseases, by definition, affect both humans and animals and include Zika, Ebola, and Lyme disease. People and pets suffer from obesity and the secondary affects including type II diabetes. Additionally, pets can serve as health sentinels because they share the same environment as people, helping us understand the impact of environmental toxins. These grants benefiting One Health research will lead to new information related to disease detection, diagnosis, and treatments for the Kansas City region.
The history of the KCALSI grant program has been quite significant. From 2007 – 2015, 69 grants have been funded for a total of $3,300,144. The grants undergo a rigorous NIH review process that increases the likelihood the researchers will be able to successfully compete for follow-on federal funding. Over the 9 year period of 2007 – 2015, $30,130,314 has been returned to the region in federal funding yielding an over 9:1 return on investment.
Founded in 1943, the Hall Family Foundation supports regional programs that are innovative, promote excellence, and have the potential to effect positive change and permanent solutions for the community. The KCALSI Research Development Grant program uses funds, such as those from the Hall Family Foundation, to encourage regional collaboration and enable generation of critical preliminary data necessary for successful submission of major multidisciplinary research proposals to government and private funding agencies.
###
For More Information, Contact:
Dr. Keith Gary, Vice President, KCALSI
(816) 753-7700
About Kansas City Area Life Sciences Institute:
Through its Research Development Grants program, KCALSI manages a variety of individual grants for area corporations and trusts, helping them identify proposals with the best scientific, medical and technical merit. Research grants are awarded to generate initial results and stimulate the submission of major multidisciplinary research proposals to government or private agencies. KCALSI’s Research Development Grants program includes proposal review, evaluation by subject matter experts, written reviews for all applicants, and post-award management.