The ERC, with initial funding provided by President Cigarroa and representing research stakeholders from across the university, has made a measurable impact on Health Science Center research.
“The ERC has served as a useful forum for many of the institution’s major research stakeholders to discuss issues of common interest and provide a number of recommendations to enhance the research mission of the Health Science Center,” said ERC chairman Brian Herman, Ph.D., professor and chairman of the department of cellular and structural biology.
The ERC’s first major development was the Presidential Research Enhancement Fund (PREF). Funded through an investment from President Cigarroa, the PREF provides peer-reviewed seed funding to groups of investigators to encourage the development of interdisciplinary research programs. To date, this program has generated a 6:1 return on its investments. For every dollar the ERC has awarded, six new dollars have come into the institution. The ERC also provides peer-reviewed funding for new investigators, pilot projects and faculty enrichment through the ERC Research Fund Program.
The ERC has developed and finances the institution’s Research Incentive Program. This program provides funding based on award expenditures made to the top 15 to 20 percent of senior and junior faculty in recognition of their contributions to the research enterprise. Funding provided by the program is made as a one-time merit payment to the faculty that can be reinvested by the faculty and departments in their research activities.
The ERC also provides the governance, administration, evaluation and partial funding of the institutional core research facilities. The committee has also assisted the president and executive vice president for academic and health affairs in the design, oversight and review of applications for the San Antonio Life Sciences Institute (SALSI). The co-directors of SALSI serve as members of the ERC.
The membership includes all of the associate deans for research from each school, the top three research center directors, the top three academic research departments, an elected faculty member from each school and two individuals who are appointed by the ERC chair to ensure that all research activity has been represented. The committee is co-chaired by Charles Bowden, M.D., professor and chairman of the department of psychiatry and has several ex-officio members from the administration.
The ERC has recently established a Web site that serves as the primary source of information about the Health Science Center’s research enterprise. A clinical trials database is currently being added to the site. The database will be designed so that both lay persons and physicians will be able to see what clinical trials are being conducted at the Health Science Center. The Web site’s address is
www.uthscsa.edu/research/.
