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University advisory committee presents research portfolio metrics; UTRGV TREC highlighted for regional development
Summary
The university advisory committee reviewed program metrics, strike rates and return-on-investment data across CPRIT mechanisms and featured the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley's TREC program. Committee members discussed recruiting, geographic diversity and the importance of core facilities and early-onset cancer research.
The University Advisory Committee reported to the oversight committee on academic research outcomes, program metrics and return-on-investment indicators and highlighted the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) as a case study for a track-eligible institutional program.
Professor Sebastian Chauhan, presenting for the university advisory committee, summarized application volumes, funding rates (strike rates) by mechanism and long-term metrics. He reported that investigator-initiated research awards (IIRA) are a high-profile program with a roughly 13% overall funding rate in the most recent cycle and that the core facility mechanism had a higher renewal success rate due to many applications being competitive renewals. The committee discussed early clinical investigator awards, high-impact/high-risk awards, recruitment awards, and the TREC (track-eligible institutions) program.
Chauhan presented cumulative metrics for longer-standing mechanisms: since program inception the IIRA mechanism had funded hundreds of awards with hundreds of millions in CPRIT support and generated publications, patents and clinical trials (presenter supplied specific counts for funded applications, publications, patents and trial enrollments in the meeting materials). He said analyses by the Beerman Group show CPRIT funding generates economic activity and job creation across Texas and estimated that CPRIT-supported programs have contributed to millions in output and thousands of jobs (presenter gave macro estimates that the oversight committee may use in planning and outreach).
As an example of geographic impact, Chauhan described UTRGV's TREC award and related investments: UTRGV has expanded research infrastructure and community outreach in the Rio Grande Valley, launched cervical cancer prevention and HPV vaccination efforts, hosted seminar series and conferences, and pursued partnerships with local foundations and mobile screening providers. Committee members praised the job-creation and community-training aspects and asked for more detail on publication quality and timeframes for clinical trial enrollments; Chauhan said publication venues and impact metrics are available and can be supplied.
The oversight committee engaged on recruitment equity and geographic diversity: members asked about gender balance in recruitment awards and geographic clustering of tenure-track recruits; the university committee recommended more nominations for senior female candidates for larger recruitment awards and continued outreach to institutions away from the I-35 corridor.
