BOZEMAN — Montana State University will play a leading role in improving medical care and public health across the Northwest through collaborative research as part of a partnership with one of the nation’s top medical schools that is backed by a new $63 million grant.

The funding, from the National Institutes of Health, will support the Institute of Translational Health Sciences at the University of Washington for an additional five years. Similar to the WWAMI Medical Education Program that allows students from Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho to pay in-state tuition at MSU while earning medical degrees from UW's top-ranking School of Medicine, ITHS runs cooperative programs that facilitate and apply medical research across the multi-state region.

"This is about building partnerships among scientists, clinicians and communities to tackle some of the most complex health issues of our time,” said Jason Carter, MSU's vice president of research, economic development and graduate education. “It's a big win for MSU students, faculty and ultimately the citizens of Montana and the whole region."

Although this is the fourth such grant supporting ITHS since its inception in 2007, this newest round of funding is designed to widen the institute's regional impact. In particular, six out of the 18 doctoral students funded by the grant will be at MSU, whereas previously all were at UW. Additionally, in a first among the WWAMI universities, MSU’s Carter will serve as co-leader on the grant and sit on the ITHS executive committee. 

“This is going to allow us to really accelerate the partnership with UW and expand our capabilities in this area of translational medical research, which includes anything from new drug development to public health research with our tribal partners," Carter said. “We’ve worked hard to build a level of trust and cooperation with UW that will take this to the next level.”

"We are truly excited to have Jason join our executive committee,” said Tong Sun, ITHS’s executive director. “His leadership is instrumental for us to continue to expand our collaborations in the WWAMI region."

As part of the ITHS initiative called the TL1 Training Program, the roughly $1.5 million designated for MSU doctoral students will fund those graduate student researchers completing their degrees in a wide range of fields, including microbiology, health and human development, psychology, chemistry and biological engineering. “One of the most exciting programs to come with this new funding period is the new cohort of doctoral students at MSU,” said Nora Disis, director of ITHS and associate dean for translational science at UW’s School of Medicine. “We can't wait to see the new research projects that will come out of this.”

“This program is designed to integrate students with very different expertise into groups that have a common interest in addressing the most pressing health care challenges," said Blake Wiedenheft, associate professor in the Department of Microbiology and Cell Biology in MSU's College of Agriculture and a co-director of the MSU portion of the grant. "These are the future leaders who will discover new treatments, establish health care policy and bring improved care to our citizens."

The funded doctoral students, as well as other researchers across MSU, will be encouraged to tap into UW's resources and expertise — made available through the ITHS partnership — to enhance the quality and impact of their research, Carter said. MSU researchers will have access to valuable biostatistics databases as well as physicians, biostatisticians, epidemiologists and other medical experts. Liz Shanahan, MSU's associate vice president for research development, will help MSU researchers connect with the ITHS assets.

Besides the $1.5 million directly allotted to MSU for doctoral research, MSU and other WWAMI universities will be better positioned because of Carter's role on the executive committee to tap into a variety of existing and new programs funded with portions of the remainder of the $63 million grant. "As we strengthen this relationship, these resources will become a more prominent part of how we approach the whole research process," Carter said.

Rather than simply develop a new medical diagnostic technology in a laboratory, for instance, MSU researchers could partner with UW medical staff to clinically test and refine the tool, cutting down the time it takes to help patients. Across a wide range of fields, integrating MSU's research enterprise with applications in medicine and public health is the kind of multidisciplinary approach necessary to meet the four "grand challenges" outlined in MSU's strategic plan, Choosing Promise, according to Carter. One of those goals is promoting community wellness, which includes access and equity in education and health outcomes, community-based participatory research, and biomedical sciences and entrepreneurship.

“The long-term impact will be stronger science and stronger partnerships that can better improve health and wellness in our communities," Carter said. “We think this can become a model for how university consortia can expand their reach and impact, not just in the medical field but in other areas as well."