Office of the Executive Vice President for Research

RFUMS research faculty and students are engaged intensively in the discovery and creation of new knowledge, a core tenet of the University’s mission. On campus can be found robust, world-class basic science research programs in viral oncology, neuroscience and neurodegenerative diseases, the structural biology of membrane proteins, immunology and inflammation, cystic fibrosis and drug discovery, and cardiac arrest, to name but a few. Ten specialty, core research support facilities provide the foundation that enables our scientific community to pursue their extramurally funded, biomedical studies at the atomic, molecular, cellular, and organismal levels. 

At RFUMS, interdisciplinary collaborations also occur beyond the basic science departments. Investigators, utilizing our state-of-the-art Human Performance and Movement Analysis and Translational Science laboratories, have developed comprehensive research programs in the area of Gait/Balance/Fall prevention/Lower limb injury/Podiatric wound healing, with the goals of discovering and creating therapeutic interventions that:

1. ameliorate the injuries plaguing our veterans and returning warriors; and
2. help society cope with the developing symptomatology of an aging, obese, and increasingly diabetic population. 

Our Psychology faculty conducts fundamental research encompassing risk factors, biomarkers, neural mechanisms, cognitive measures, and behavioral intervention strategies associated with many of the disorders that prevail in today’s society. Investigators in the DeWitt C. Baldwin Institute for Interprofessional Education are developing research programs to rigorously assess the interprofessional educational model, as this paradigm is the hallmark of our University. 

Another key component of the RFUMS mission is the improvement of societal health by translating the discoveries of our scientists into therapeutics. Consequently, we have put in place the structures that are necessary to accomplish this mission. The University is now poised for a substantial expansion of our efforts in supporting and expediting the innovative and entrepreneurial aspirations of our faculty, staff and students.