Despite the John A. Burns School of Medicines (JABSOM) top funder receiving budget cuts, the school continues to maintain its forward momentum in the field of biogenetics research with help from its team of researchers and by using the money it is currently receving to build a self-sustaining research facility.

According to a National Insititutes of Health (NIH) fact sheet, in March 2013, President Barack Obama signed an order that initiated a process known as sequestration for the institutes fiscal year 2013 budget. This required the organization to cut its budget by five percent or $1.55 billion.

This cut affected research in universities nationwide, and according to Talia Ogliore, public information officer for the Office of the Vice Chancellor of Research at UH Mnoa, dropped the amount received by University of Hawaii at Mnoa during the federal stimulus years from $68 million to between $40-$44 million a year since 2012.

In recent years, UH Mnoa has increasingly sought to diversify our funding sources for health-related research, looking for additional opportunities with state, local and private health organizations and Hawaii non-profits, many of which have medical missions, Ogliore said in an email interview.

According to Ogliore, this research funding has come from various medical facilities such as the Queens Medical Center, Kapiolani Medical Center for Women and Children and Kuakini Medical Center.

Making cuts manageable

Tina Shelton, communications and government affairs director at JABSOM, explained that small changes, such as trips to academic meetings being replaced with conference calls, have made the cuts manageable.

The faculty itself has upped its pursuit of lesser-known funding with energetic and aggressive grants proposals that rely on the success of previous research such as the worlds first cloning of a mouse, Shelton said.

She added that these efforts to bring in the extra funding not only help with the discovery of new scientific breakthroughs but also help JABSOM as the medical campus is required to be completely self-sustaining. All maintenance of the buildings, salaries of the faculty and other expenses must be paid for by JABSOM. UH Mnoa and the UH system also benefit as 50 percent of outside funding acquired goes to help fund the other campuses.

Receiving grants

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Medical school makes funding cuts manageable