{"id":78254,"date":"2026-06-30T10:22:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T17:22:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/?p=78254"},"modified":"2026-06-30T10:22:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T17:22:13","slug":"nau-t32-grant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/nau-t32-grant\/","title":{"rendered":"NAU receives $1.76M grant to train future biomedical workforce"},"content":{"rendered":"

Northern Arizona University received its first <\/span>T32 grant<\/span><\/a>\u00a0from the National Institutes of Health, which will allow the university to fund 20 doctoral students\u00a0over a five-year period.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The\u00a0grant,\u00a0awarded to\u00a0G-RISE\u00a0at Northern Arizona University, is\u00a0$1.76\u00a0million over five years,\u00a0providing\u00a0funding for 20 doctoral students in four different disciplines.\u00a0Powered by grant funds, G-RISE is\u00a0focused on\u00a0increasing the breadth and quality of\u00a0the\u00a0biomedical and health-focused science workforce in the United States, which will contribute to greater public and community health.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Between a quarter and a third of applications are funded each year, according to the NIH<\/a><\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThrough training in foundational research skills, hands-on research and career development activities, G-RISE students will develop the skills needed to not only contribute to but also lead biomedical and translational research projects,\u201d said Dirk de Heer<\/strong>, a professor in the Department of Health Sciences and principal investigator on the grant. \u201cIdeally, these students will be\u00a0able to use their skills to address the pressing health challenges facing our nation.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

De Heer said the goal is to\u00a0use the funding to\u00a0support eight students per year for two years each.\u00a0Any NAU\u00a0doctoral students in their second year\u00a0of studies in\u00a0biological sciences, informatics and computing, interdisciplinary health or earth sciences and environmental sustainability will be eligible for funding, including tuition support, a stipend of almost $30,000 a year and faculty mentorship.\u00a0More than 40 faculty members have signed up to be mentors,\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Anita Antoninka<\/strong>,\u00a0associate research professor\u00a0in\u00a0the School of Forestry;\u00a0Cathy Propper<\/strong>,\u00a0professor in the Department of Biological Sciences; and\u00a0Jani Ingram<\/strong>, Regents\u2019 professor in the Department of Chemistry and\u00a0Biochemistry are\u00a0co-PIs. Kelly Laurila<\/strong>, a research scientist\u00a0in\u00a0the Center for Community Health and Engaged Research (CHER) is\u00a0lead\u00a0evaluator.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis T32 award is a powerful endorsement of our faculty\u2019s research excellence and our university\u2019s commitment to advancing biomedical and health<\/span>\u2011focused discovery,\u201d said Janelle Chiasera<\/strong>, dean of the College of Health and Human Services. \u201cThis NIH investment will elevate outstanding doctoral scholars, expand our research\u00a0capacity\u00a0and strengthen the scientific workforce our communities depend on. We are grateful for the collaborative leadership that made this possible and look forward to the impact these scholars will have across Arizona and beyond.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The grant highlights NAU\u2019s strong pool of faculty mentors with a history of external funding\u00a0and internationally renowned research and\u00a0the excellence of current and future doctoral students, de Heer said. NAU\u00a0also is\u00a0well positioned for this work because of its institutional commitment to educational excellence and upward mobility.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

“This T32 award from the National Institutes of Health gives NAU doctoral students vital support to pursue research that will tackle health challenges facing communities in Arizona and beyond,” said\u00a0NAU President\u00a0Jos\u00e9 Luis Cruz Rivera<\/strong>. “This program reflects NAU’s values of access and impactful research, and it will leave a lasting mark on our university. I am grateful\u00a0for\u00a0our faculty who\u00a0led\u00a0this proposal and who will support the research,\u00a0mentorship\u00a0and success of our doctoral students on their journeys at\u00a0NAU.”<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Northern<\/a>Heidi Toth | NAU Communications
\n(928) 523-8737 | heidi.toth@nau.edu<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Northern Arizona University received its first T32 grant\u00a0from the National Institutes of Health, which will allow the university to fund 20 doctoral students\u00a0over a five-year period.\u00a0 The\u00a0grant,\u00a0awarded to\u00a0G-RISE\u00a0at Northern Arizona University, is\u00a0$1.76\u00a0million over five years,\u00a0providing\u00a0funding for 20 doctoral students in four different disciplines.\u00a0Powered by grant funds, G-RISE is\u00a0focused on\u00a0increasing the breadth and quality of\u00a0the\u00a0biomedical and…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2797,"featured_media":78256,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-78254","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research-academics"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78254","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2797"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78254"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78254\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78261,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78254\/revisions\/78261"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/78256"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78254"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78254"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78254"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}