Idaho IDeA Networks and Centers

In 1993, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) established the Institutional Development Award (IDeA) program is to broaden the geographic distribution of NIH funding for biomedical research throughout the U.S.

The NIH’s IDeA program supports competitive basic, clinical and translational research, faculty development and infrastructure improvements. The program aims to strengthen an institution’s ability to support biomedical research, enhance the competitiveness of investigators in securing research funding, and enable clinical and translational research that addresses the needs of medically underserved communities.

There are several types of IDeA programs, including Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBREs) and IDeA networks of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBREs). COBREs, given to individual universities and other research entities, support the establishment and development of innovative biomedical research centers through awards for three sequential five-year phases. INBREs support a statewide biomedical research development network that partners research-intensive institutions with primarily undergraduate institutions.

The State of Idaho currently has five INBRE and COBRE IDeA programs: three at the University of Idaho and two at Boise State University.

University of Idaho

Idaho INBRE — Funded continuously since 2001 and currently led by Carolyn H. Bohach, Idaho INBRE partners with 11 Idaho institutions to (1) build on the established Idaho research network and strengthen the participating Idaho institutions’ biomedical research expertise and infrastructure; (2) build and increase the research base and capacity in Idaho by providing support to faculty, postdoctoral fellows and graduate students at the participating Idaho institutions; (3) provide research opportunities for undergraduate students and serve as a “pipeline” for these students to continue in health research careers; (4) enhance Idaho’s workforce knowledge of science and technology; and (5) share established programs and infrastructure with all seven Western IDeA states through a Regional Alliance of INBRE Networks (RAIN). This includes Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada and Wyoming. RAIN reduces redundancies, increase interdisciplinary research collaborations among faculty, and broaden research and education opportunities for students.

Center for Modeling Complex Interactions (Phase II COBRE) — Initially funded in 2015 as a Phase 1 COBRE and led by Holly Wichman, the Center for Modeling Complex Interactions fosters convergence in interdisciplinary biomedical research to (1) support faculty to carry out model-based, interdisciplinary biomedical research and increase their competitiveness for external funding; (2) increase University of Idaho’s faculty participation in biomedical research; (3) extend the reach of its Modeling Core into new areas of modeling to capitalize on emerging opportunities; and 4) establish a path to long-term sustainability under the umbrella of Institute for Modeling Collaboration and Innovation.

Boise State University

COBRE in Matrix Biology — Led by Julie Oxford, this IDeA program is a Phase III COBRE. It’s goals are to (1) establish a critical mass of investigators focused on understanding tissue remodeling and turnover of the extracellular matrix in disease progression and in the development of therapeutic strategies for regeneration and repair; (2) consolidate and expand biomedical research core capabilities to benefit junior investigators and the university; (3) develop and maintain a significant and productive research program, including a junior investigator mentor program, ensuring access to research instrumentation and facilities, recruitment of new investigators and management of a pilot project program; and (4) collaborate with existing programs will allow them to leverage current strengths at the University of Idaho and Idaho State University without duplicating costly infrastructure building efforts.

Convergent Engineering and Biomolecular Science COBRE (CEBS COBRE, P20GM148321) — This Phase I COBRE, funded in 2023, is led by Jim Browning (principal investigator and program director) and Ken Cornell (co-principal investigator and associate director). The CEBS COBRE has as one of its goals to encourage engineers to pursue biomedical applications of their research, and conversely to promote biomedical scientists to incorporate engineering approaches into their research. CEBS COBRE provides research-, professional development- and student resources to support wide-ranging regional biomedical research projects that fall under the theme of biomedical devices, sensors and systems. The CEBS COBRE also supports the development of a combined engineering-focused Fabrication, Characterization and Testing (FaCT) core for the design, synthesis, and analysis of devices and sensors. Center personnel are especially interested in supporting efforts that span engineering and the biomolecular/biomedical sciences, and how teams can gain from research convergence and the science of team science.