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It might be one of the University's most successful but least known models of interdisciplinary research development.
It's the Research Consortium on Children and Families (RCCF), and it is credited with fostering a nearly five-fold jump in extramural funding proposals for child and family research since it began four years ago.
The consortium, supported by the Research and Health Sciences division, focuses on building collaborative research efforts across academic disciplines and spawning more research funding on child and family topics such as substance abuse, depression, learning disabilities, obesity, and delinquency. In addition to dispersing pilot research grants, the consortium sponsors colloquia, hosts speakers, and provides review of extramural research proposals.
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Ron Prinz
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Elizabeth Patterson
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Robert McKeown
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Dawn Wilson
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"RCCF is a model for how to get things done without creating a huge structure," said Ron Prinz, a psychology professor and one of four members of the consortium's executive committee. "We don't compete with the colleges and departments over distribution of indirect costs from grants--we just work at the faculty level to build research partnerships that will bear fruit."
With more than 50 faculty associates from law, education, arts and sciences, medicine, public health, social work, and nursing, RCCF helped triple the annual amount of child and family research at the University to more than $11.5 million.
The consortium also has promoted the recruitment of two statisticians through the Faculty Excellence Initiative: Bo Cai in epidemiology and biostatistics, and Patrick Malone in psychology.
"Both have worked in child/family projects and both will be great resources and collaborators for RCCF faculty associates," Prinz said. "Our grants won't be competitive if we don't keep up with the latest statistical methodologies."
Seventy percent of the pilot fund grants dispersed by the consortium have produced much larger, extramurally funded projects. The consortium has fall and spring deadlines for its pilot grants; proposals are reviewed by the executive committee, whose other members are Elizabeth Patterson, law; Robert McKeown, epidemiology and biostatistics; and Dawn Wilson, psychology. The committee anticipates drawing on other proposal reviewers from within the University in the future.
Examples of faculty who received either pilot funding or other assistance from the consortium and then competed successfully for extramural funding are many and include:
- Angela Liese, epidemiology and biostatistics, $887,000 from the National Institutes of Health for childhood diabetes research
- Brad Smith, psychology, $750,000 from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for promotion of adolescent development
- Suzanne McDermott, family and preventive medicine, $1.37 million from NIH for research on maternal toxic exposure and child development
- Kathy Scharer, nursing, $882,000 from NIH for research on mothers of mentally ill children
- Dawn Wilson, psychology, $2.87 million from NIH for research on reduction of childhood obesity.
Consortium manager June Headley assists RCCF faculty associates with finding funding opportunities, linking faculty together who have common research interests, fostering peer mentoring, and helping faculty to better focus their research goals.
The RCCF will hold its annual research retreat Dec. 10, with opening remarks from President Sorensen. The RCCF also will host University colloquia by distinguished researchers in the spring.
For more information about RCCF, contact Headley at jbheadle@gwm.sc.edu.
10/07
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