EUGENE, Ore. -- (June 14, 2011) -- University of Oregon research on human physiology -- particularly blood flow's role in helping to maintain the stability of internal organs -- is getting a boost from a $400,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Defense for the purchase of state-of-the-art monitoring equipment.
The grant to the UO is part of a $37.8 million package the Defense Department announced it was dividing into 165 awards to 83 academic institutions to support the acquisition of research instrumentation. The awards, still subject to final contract negotiations, are the result of a merit competition for funding conducted by the Army Research Office, Office of Naval Research and Air Force Office of Scientific Research.
The grant to the UO will be used by scientists working in eight labs in the College of Arts and Sciences to support the purchase of advanced ultrasound and near-infrared spectroscopy systems for measuring blood flow in humans.
Researchers on the grant are Paul van Donkelaar, Li-Shan Chou, Hans Dreyer, John Halliwill, Andrew Karduna, Andrew Lovering and Christopher Minson, all in the department of human physiology, and Scott Frey in the psychology department.
The funding, from the Defense University Research Instrumentation Program, helps meet the nation's critical need by enabling university researchers to purchase scientific equipment costing $50,000 or more to conduct Defense Department-relevant research.
"This is the second time that the department of human physiology has received a grant from this program," Halliwill said. "Our first grant was selected in 2005 and supported the purchase of our environmental chamber, which is now the centerpiece of the department's Evonuk Environmental Physiology Core."
The new equipment will allow for research and education related to the movement of blood and perfusion of vital tissues during challenges to homeostasis in humans in health and disease. Such work is relevant to UO research on cardiovascular, respiratory, neurological, muscular and thermoregulatory responses to exercise, environmental stress and tissue injury.
About the University of Oregon
The University of Oregon is among the 108 institutions chosen from 4,633 U.S. universities for top-tier designation of "Very High Research Activity" in the 2010 Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. The UO also is one of two Pacific Northwest members of the Association of American Universities.
Media Contact: Jim Barlow, director of science and research communications, 541-346-3481, jebarlow@uoregon.edu