A research funding initiative that’s receiving half a billion dollars from the General Assembly has awarded its first research grants.
NCInnovation was first created in 2018 with a mission to help academic research-based startups in North Carolina – specifically those bringing business to the state’s rural areas. The organization focuses on funding research projects from universities, specifically public ones located outside of Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill.
“When I took this job last year, some suggested to me that universities outside of the Triangle won’t have enough compelling applied research worth supporting. It’s just not true!” Michelle Bolas, NCInnovation’s Executive Vice President, said in a press release. “There is incredible work going on at universities all over North Carolina that people don’t know about, but they will now.”
The organization’s first research grants will be distributed to seven public universities in the state. $5.2 million dollars will help fund projects on cancer immunotherapy, a universal flu vaccine and developing tools to identify mosquito-borne infectious diseases.
The mosquito research is being conducted by a team at Western Carolina University. Brian Byrd, a professor in environmental health science, is leading the project.
“Using our approach, we can rapidly assess the risk of infection in the Aedes mosquitoes that transmit dengue fever and Zika,” Byrd said in a press release. “There is a similar Aedes mosquito in Western North Carolina that transmits La Crosse virus causing encephalitis in children every year, so this tool gives us a platform to improve risk assessments and opportunities to reduce human disease.”
The other universities receiving funding from the $5.2 million grant pool are Appalachian State, ECU, North Carolina A&T, UNC Charlotte, UNC Greensboro and UNC Wilmington. Specific details about the projects are on NCInnovation’s website.
Later this year, NCInnovation plans to start accepting applications for its next grant program. According to the organization, only university researchers are eligible for support. There will not be any funds awarded to private companies.
Additionally, if any research funded by NCInnovation leads to its own companies, the organization requires that headquarters and principal places of business be in North Carolina for a minimum of five years.
The organization’s focus has received scrutiny from some influential GOP donors, like UNC Board of Governors member Art Pope.
Pope criticized state funds being awarded to NCInnovation in a letter signed by four other business leaders back when the General Assembly was still deciding how much funding to give the organization in September. In the letter, he said he felt like “fostering innovation” was better left up to the private sector of the economy.
Governor Roy Cooper has also said he has concerns about NCInnovation, telling Business North Carolina that he’d rather invest the state budget funds in early childhood education.
The General Assembly ultimately decided to award NCInnovation $250 million from the state budget in both years of the biennium. The organization’s board is also largely appointed by the General Assembly and includes a committee with UNC System President Peter Hans.
