Delaware State University's biggest grant — $10.9M for neuroscience research

Delaware State University has received the largest grant in its history — $10.9 million over five years to conduct neuroscience research.

The money from the National Institutes of Health will go to the Dover school’s Center of Biomedical Research Excellence, known as COBRE. The grant will help Delaware State build on successes achieved under a $10.5 million grant in 2012, school officials said.

The renewed funding also will support additional neuroscience-related collaborations between Delaware State and the University of Delaware.

The center’s goal is to have neuroscientists “working at multiple scales, from human subjects to rodent and invertebrate models, to improve our understanding of the dynamic function of the brain,” center director Melissa Harrington said.

U. S. Sen. Tom Carper, D-Delaware, said the partnership has “solidified these prestigious universities’ reputation as talented research institutions, and continue critical work.”

“Not only will this First State collaboration advance the study of the brain, but it will also attract talented students and scientists to our state,’’ Carper said.

The initial five-year phase led to more than 70 publications from center researchers, Delaware State said.

Proposed activities for the second phase include buying research instrumentation for UD’s Center for Biomedical and Brain Imaging, as well as hiring new faculty and spurring new research.