Sen. Joseph Crisco (D‑Woodbridge) and the Department of Public Health (DPH) on Thursday (March 28) announced the recipients of state funding for biomedical research into diseases associated with tobacco use and other chronic illnesses.
A total of $3,010,611 was awarded this year by DPH from the state’s Biomedical Research Trust Fund. These funds will support nine research projects conducted by researchers from the University of Connecticut’s Health Center and Yale University.
The Biomedical Research Trust Fund awards are just one example of Connecticut’s ongoing investment in the growing field of bioscience. Earlier this year, Governor Dannel P. Malloy proposed the Bioscience Innovation Act which, over ten years, will establish a $200 million fund to strengthen investment in Connecticut’s bioscience sector.
“The research grants we’ve announced today – part of an annual program to help underwrite cutting edge, health-related research – are consistent with our state’s growing and accelerating emphasis on comparable projects in Connecticut,” Senator Crisco said. “Last year we agreed to invest in an overhaul of the UConn Health Center and provide economic development funding for Jackson Labs – it’s gratifying to know Connecticut continues setting the pace in healthrelated research to energize its economy for the foreseeable future.”
“These projects were selected from a field of highly competitive applications received in response to a Request for Proposals issued by the department last summer,” stated DPH Deputy Commissioner Lisa Davis. “The funds made available through the Biomedical Research Trust Fund represent an investment in Connecticut-based research that is providing new insight into how to treat and prevent leading causes of death and disability.”
With this eighth round of proposals funded by DPH, over nearly $14.5 million dollars have been awarded to Connecticut research institutions for the purpose of funding biomedical research into tobacco-related diseases, Alzheimer’s disease and diabetes.
In 2000, the Biomedical Research Trust Fund was established by the Connecticut General Assembly to fund biomedical research into tobacco-related illnesses such as heart disease and cancer. The trust fund may accept transfers from the Tobacco Settlement Fund. Non-profit, tax-exempt academic institutions of higher education or hospitals that conduct biomedical research are eligible to apply for these funds. In 2010 P.A. 10 – 136 expanded the scope of research funded by the trust fund to include Alzheimer’s disease and diabetes research.
According to state health officials, tobacco is the single most preventable cause of mortality and morbidity in our society. In Connecticut, tobacco use is associated with over 5,000 deaths per year. These deaths are primarily caused by cancer, heart disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
An estimated 6.9% of the Connecticut adult population or approximately 186,000 adults age 18 years and older have been diagnosed with diabetes. An additional 93,000 Connecticut adults are estimated to have undiagnosed diabetes.
Alzheimer’s disease is one of the top ten leading causes of death in the United States. It is the sixth leading cause of death among American adults, and the fifth leading cause of death for adults aged 65 years and older.