The University of Louisville secured a record $201.5 million in the 2021 fiscal year to support research.
In a news release, the school said that funding was an increase of more than $30 million over its previous record, set a year earlier. These dollars supported work to address some of the biggest global problems of our time, including climate change and battling the Covid-19 pandemic, the release said.
“UofL is truly a research powerhouse, continuously blazing new trails and seeking answers to important questions,” UofL President Neeli Bendapudi said in the release. “This record-breaking year for funding is proof of that fact, but it also shows our research and scholarship are a great investment — that UofL is a great place to invest.”
In the past year, researchers investigated new treatments, led widespread community testing and developed new methods that could change how we track and contain future disease outbreaks, the release said.
"The research we do here at UofL has real impact — it can improve the way we live and work, spur economic development, and in some cases, it literally saves lives,” said Kevin Gardner, UofL’s executive vice president for research and innovation, in the release. “This funding makes that important work possible.”
The 2021 fiscal year was also far-and-away the university’s best year on record for commercialization income, the release said. UofL earned $26.7 million from license royalties and other related income from university research-born intellectual property, nearly triple the previous record, set a year before, and was awarded 80 new patents.
You can read about some of the school's latest commercialization efforts here. I also recently wrote this piece about a couple of Louisville companies that are seeking to put UofL patents to work in the agricultural sector.
The increased income this year was propelled by strong deals and development funding, including the license of UofL-born drugs to fight cancer and other conditions, the release said. UofL also received grants to develop new technologies, including those addressing societal problems caused by COVID-19.
The past fiscal year also saw the launch of two new startups based on university-born technology. One, iTolerance Inc., signed an exclusive license for a UofL therapy that helps people with Type 1 diabetes stay off immunosuppressants, and is now developing it for clinical use.
“It’s important for people to know that our research doesn’t end with a paper or manuscript,” Gardner said. “It ends in getting our research out into the world in the form of innovative new companies, partnerships and technologies. Our goal is innovation with impact.”
