URI College of Pharmacy Gets NIH Grant, Expands

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Saturday, September 18, 2010

EDUCATION by Michelle Nguyen, GoLocalProv Correspondent

The National Institutes of Health, a branch of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, has awarded the University of Rhode Island's Pharmacy Department $6.3 million in grants this past year, ranking the College of Pharmacy 18th out of 68 pharmacy programs in research funding grants.

Ronald P Jordan, the Dean of Pharmacy envisions using the funds to increase the small school's student capacity.

"It is going to increase the number of pharmacists we are able to graduate from URI and that is going to be a significant improvement in terms of our output. [It will] also increase the number of faculty that is required to educate that number of students and increasing the research agenda etcetera."

Bricks and mortar

Part of the NIH grant will go towards the construction of a new "green" building near the Center for Biological and Life Sciences. The building will feature classrooms, research spaces, administration offices for the College of Pharmacy, and a new auditorium for pharmacy, biology and engineerings students.

The College of Pharmacy is looking to receive a LEAD Silver award for their new building, which will certify that green principles were used during construction. Gilbane Construction, the building's construction manager, will focus on minimizing energy usage, using local products and recycling the wastes of construction.

The building is estimated to cost $75 million and will be primarily funded by a $65 million voter-approved state bond initiative. The NIH grant will help cover the remaining $10 million.

New opportunities

The grant will also fund the pharmacy school's new Bachelor of Science and Pharmaceutical Sciences program, which trains students in pharmaceutical, healthcare and consumer products.

Students are excited that their school is expanding. "In some of the classrooms there aren't enough seats to fit us all. I'm really excited to see what the new building has to offer students in the pharmacy major." Vinny Cinquemani, a junior pharmacy student told URI's student newspaper, The Good 5¢ Cigar.