Editor’s note: This story previously referred to Thomas R. Klei as interim vice chancellor for Research and Economic Development. Klei left that position in 2013. He is currently a Boyd Professor in the School of Veterinary Medicine Department of Pathobiological Sciences. The Daily Reveille regrets this error. 
LSU recently received a grant worth $18.5 million from the National Institutes of Health to continue the development of its IDeA Networks of Biomedical Research Excellence. The program gathers undergraduate students from colleges across the state to partake in the research program.
About $12.5 million of the money from NIH will go to continue funding graduate institutions across the state to conduct biomedical research as overhead.
“The rest of the funds are awarded directly to faculty from seven different institutions that apply for them,” said Thomas R. Klei, Boyd Professor in the School of Veterinary Medicine Department of Pathobiological Sciences.
Those seven institutions are LSU Shreveport, the biology and chemistry departments of Louisiana Tech, Grambling State University, University of Louisiana at Monroe, Southern University of Baton Rouge, Xavier University of Louisiana in New Orleans, and Southeastern University in Hammond, Louisiana.
The money that is granted to the institutions are used to fund research programs with mentors in other institutions in order to conduct biomedical research. In this program, undergraduate students from across Louisiana work over the summer to research and then present their findings.
“The Board of Regents matched $1.2 million to help the undergraduates with their research,” Klei said. “The students choose or get help choosing a mentor to guide them in a specific research project over the summer. The goal is to get students interested in research. For the first time, some of the students will continue their work in the academic year, either at their home campus or at the mentor campus.”
Undergraduate students who want to participate in research programs face a competitive appilication process and selection system.
“Students who want to participate have to fill out their applications, present to us their grade point averages, then tell us why they want to participate,” Klei said. “We only take around 25 students out of the 150 or so applications.”
In addition to making students interested in the research, Klei said the hope of the program is to make students want to pursue biomedical careers after they graduate. Students who graduate into biomedical careers increase the amount of workers trained in the field in the state, as well as provide mentors for the students in programs such as the one taking place now.
Klei said students who participate in the program are highly likely to continue in the field when they complete the program. According to him, 85 percent of the undergraduates that take part in the research programs go on to medical school or another professional school such as pharmaceuticals or medicines.
“The idea is that, even if they do not go on to be a research scientist, they will understand research,” Klei said.
This grant from the NIH is the third five-year grant the University has received. LSU was the first institution to get this kind of funding, making it easy for NIH to renew the grant, Klei said.
“Louisiana is also an Institutional Development Award state, meaning we can receive a limited amount of money from NIH. The eligibility of being an IDeA state is highly based off of population,” Klei said. “While NIH would like to fund most of the states with smaller populations, that does not always happen. Our INBRE is highly thought of, which makes them come back.”
Klei emphasized that, even though LSU received the grant, colleges from all over the state will benefit from the grant money.