A Boise State University research team led by Professor Julia Oxford of the Department of Biological Sciences has secured a Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence Phase 3 award from the National Institute of Health.

The funding will continue to support interdisciplinary matrix biology research at Boise State. That includes a host of projects studying the environments surrounding cells, with implications for disease treatment, human health and even wearable technology.

Phase 3 research priorities within matrix biology will include health disparities, immune resilience, healthy aging, cancer, development, women’s health and environmental health. All projects will be supported by the team’s shared core facilities.

This grant is the culmination of over a decade of funding for COBRE, as it’s also known. It will provide $5 million over the next five years, adding to $10 million won in 2014 and another $10 million won in 2019 from COBRE Phases 1 and 2.

Not the average grant

Grants typically fund single research projects, but COBRE is different.

“It’s really a grant that can build infrastructure,” Oxford said. “It can purchase equipment, hire scientists and provide career development for faculty and staff.”

This particular COBRE grant has helped Boise State become a hub for matrix biology. It has launched careers for many faculty across the College of Arts and Sciences and College of Engineering, given them shared laboratory space and pushed the university closer to becoming an R1 institution.

COBRE’s impact is immediately clear in the numbers. The program had 30 affiliated faculty, postdoctoral researchers and staff in 2014 when it began. As of 2024, there are over 60. The program continues to support graduate and undergraduate students working on COBRE in matrix biology related projects in various research laboratories throughout campus.

Funding for Phases 1 and 2 supported 21 COBRE research and pilot project leaders at Boise State:

• Allan Albig (Biological Sciences)
• Cheryl Jorcyk (Biological Sciences)
• Trevor Lujan (Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering)
• Kristen Mitchell (Biological Sciences)
• Gunes Uzer (Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering)
• Richard Beard (Biological Sciences)
• Clare Fitzpatrick (Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering)
• Brad Morrison (Biological Sciences)
• Lisa Warner (Chemistry and Biochemistry)
• Javier Ochoa-Reparaz (Biological Sciences)
• Owen McDougal (Chemistry and Biochemistry)
• Daniel Fologea (Physics)
• Julliette Tinker (Biological Sciences)
• David Estrada (Materials Science and Engineering)
• Troy Rohn (Biological Sciences)
• Don Warner (Chemistry and Biochemistry) and Ph.D. student collaborator Matt King (Chemistry and Biochemistry)
• Rajesh Nagarajan (Chemistry and Biochemistry)
• Jim Browning (Electrical and Computer Engineering)
• Zhangxian Deng (Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering)
• Ben Johnson (Electrical and Computer Engineering)

Looking to the future

Biomedical research at Boise State has come a long way since Oxford applied for COBRE Phase 1 in 2013. COBRE researchers have published 280 peer-reviewed papers and won an additional $65.9 million in outside grant funding

Phase 3 will build on that momentum, continuing to support research growth and making gains from previous phases sustainable into the future.

“Phase 3 is really focused on what happens in five years,” Oxford said. “Where will we be in 2029?”

Oxford and her team will spend that time ensuring that Boise State will remain a hub for matrix biology research after the final phase of the COBRE grant. That means ensuring the university has the skilled researchers and advanced facilities necessary to continue impactful research in the decades to come.

“Boise State has so much potential to contribute to the research needs of the nation,” Oxford said. “We have the intellectual talent here and a COBRE grant can help those individuals develop their research programs.”