URI receives $85.5M in research grants

SOUTH KINGSTOWN, R.I.—University of Rhode Island officials said the state’s flagship institution received $85.5 million in research grants during the last fiscal year, a $20 million increase over the previous year.

Nearly three-quarters of those grants came from the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health.

Grants included $28.7 million to finance research by the faculty of the Graduate School of Oceanography, $22.5 million to the College of the Environment and Life Science, and $11 million to the College of Arts and Sciences.

Projects included expanding the state’s biomedical research network and developing vaccines against Lyme disease, hepatitis and stomach cancer.

Peter Alfonso, URI’s vice president for research, said the university is “proud” of the grants.