# Research Infrastructure Core

> **NIH NIH U54** · TEXAS SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY · 2021 · $604,628

## Abstract

Abstract
Texas Southern University (TSU), the nation’s second largest HBCU, has been continuously supported by the
RCMI program for many years, and has significantly strengthened our research environment. In the last RCMI
funding cycle, we successfully developed and deployed three core facilities including Pharmacology, Molecular
Biology, and Environmental Toxicity. These advances have led to productive collaborations on projects including
new drug targets, new lead compounds, preclinical lead optimization, and formulation. However, there is an
unmet need to enhance our research resources and services to include study design, methodology development,
data management, specialized laboratory techniques (e.g., genome editing, animal work skills), instrument
utilization, and collaboration networks. In this renewal application, we propose to establish a Research
Infrastructure Core (RIC) in the Center for Biomedical and Minority Health Research (CBMHR) to support
research and pilot projects by providing these enhanced services (in addition to research infrastructure made
available through previous RCMI funding) to TSU and external users and to facilitate new collaborations in
biomedical research. The specific aims are: Support CBMHR research and pilot projects and provide services
to users to enhance quality and productivity of biomedical research (Aim 1); Develop and validate laboratory
techniques to support CBMHR research and pilot projects and provide trainings to internal and external users
(Aim 2); and Facilitate networking to increase collaborative research projects and grant applications (Aim 3).
We propose to form a faculty expert team, consultant team, and recruit skilled staff to support our users in six
areas in which we have great expertise and credibility. The involved personnel, including core director, co-
director, faculty expert team members, and consultants, will be experts in the key research areas. We also
propose to facilitate new collaborations with experts in other institutions to integrate research resources across
the Houston area. Additionally, we will integrate core information including fee structures into the CBMHR
website to promote our services. Innovations of this proposed RIC include novel research methodology
development, collaborative research projects and grant applications, and collaborative synergism. We expect
that this proposed RIC will significantly enhance TSU’s research capability in biomedical and minority health
research so that more competitive grant proposals can be submitted to different agencies (e.g., NIH) and more
faculty, especially junior faculty, will be successful in their academic career.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10271284
- **Project number:** 5U54MD007605-28
- **Recipient organization:** TEXAS SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Song Gao
- **Activity code:** U54 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $604,628
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 1986-09-30 → 2025-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10271284

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10271284, Research Infrastructure Core (5U54MD007605-28). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10271284. Licensed CC0.

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