Dylon Harrison
News Editor
Idaho State University’s College of Pharmacy is in the process of applying for a grant worth $10 million.
The grant they are applying for is funded by the Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (C.O.B.R.E.), and if the College of Pharmacy receives it, it will be used to start a center for drug discovery and delivery.
This would be the first facility of its kind in Idaho.
“We want to become a hub,” said Jared Barrot, a College of Pharmacy assistant professor. “A place where researchers across the state, not just in Pocatello or Meridian, but University of Idaho and BSU, e would hope that they would be able to use our resources, our and struments and personnel to further their developments for drug discovery.”
At the time of this publication, it was still not certain if the College of Pharmacy would be receiving the grant. It was also unclear how the government shutdown would impact the grant application’s timetable.
The College of Pharmacy began the process of applying for the C.O.B.R.E. grant in the middle of December.
Only one C.O.B.R.E. grant may be submitted per institution. The College of Pharmacy was ISU administration’s second choice for the grant applicant. This is why they have had so little time.
“The president has put a lot of emphasis on research and building up that infrastructure,” Barrot said. “We just felt like it was a great opportunity to seize this time to submit an application.”
Since mid-December the College of Pharmacy has put together a 290 page grant application.
“Because of that opportunity, it also created a lot of work for that time during the holiday break,” Barrot said. “When most people are sitting around enjoying their holiday vacation, most of the researchers and investigators in the College of Pharmacy and the department of Biomedical Science were working tirelessly.”
The College of Pharmacy will likely find out if they are receiving funding from the C.O.B.R.E. grant early in the Fall 2019 semester. If they get funding, it will start in Jan 2020.
Projects and preliminary data for the center for drug discovery are already under development.
“We couldn’t have done this without some senior leadership,” Barrot said. “That was provided by Doctor Schulte.”
Schulte was hired to help develop the C.O.B.R.E. grant, expecting to have until 2020 or 2021 before they began the process. Schulte was unable to be reached for comment.
“I think it’s important to know the administration at the university, both in the president’s office and the Division of Health Sciences with VIce President Rex Force have just been so supportive,” Barrot said. “Without their support we wouldn’t be able to do what we’re doing right now.”
Barrot said the College of Pharmacy hopes the facility they plan to build with this grant will attract more students to ISU, as well as promote collaboration with other colleges throughout Idaho.
