By Maureen McArthur

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"UK is now a place that prestigious candidates are willing to consider for employment because they believe that UK has an enormous potential for growth."

-  Del Collins, Ph.D., vice chancellor for research and graduate studies for the UK Chandler Medical Center

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See related article in the Sept. 22, 1999, issue of the Lexington Herald-Leader.

The $220 million Research Challenge Trust Fund (RCTF), also known as the "Bucks for Brains" research program, will be used to support endowed chairs and professorships and additional faculty, graduate students and staff at Kentucky higher education institutions.

UK has already seen benefits from the "Bucks for Brains" program, even before any of the new researchers begin their appointments.

"UK is now a place that prestigious candidates are willing to consider for employment because they believe that UK has an enormous potential for growth," said Del Collins, Ph.D., vice chancellor for research and graduate studies for the UK Chandler Medical Center.

Several of the RCTF new faculty at the UK Chandler Medical Center began their official appointments on Sept. 1, 1999.

One of these prestigious new hires is Greg Gerhardt, Ph.D., who has joined the UK College of Medicine as a professor of anatomy and neurobiology. Previously, Gerhardt was the director of the Rocky Mountain Center for Sensor Technology (RMCST), funded by the National Science Foundation, and a professor of psychiatry and pharmacology at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. He also has been a visiting scientist of anatomy and neurobiology at the UK College of Medicine since 1995 and has collaborated on several projects with UK researchers.

Gerhardt’s research focuses on the dynamics of the function of the molecules that are released by nerve cells which then act as a signal to adjacent cells, or neurotransmitters, in the central nervous system. The researchers’ long-term goal is to develop methods leading to improved health care for individuals with brain disorders.

Gerhardt has transferred his research laboratory, including more than $4 million in National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation funding, and research projects and technologies associated with RMCST to the UK Chandler Medical Center. Additionally, Quanteon LLC, a private company where Gerhardt serves as director of operations, has relocated to Lexington.

In addition to his primary appointment in the Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Gerhardt will interact with researchers in the Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Spectroscopy Center, the Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, the Center for Biomedical Engineering and the Advanced Science and Technology Commercialization Center (ASTeCC).

"The UK Chandler Medical Center presents a wonderful opportunity for me," Gerhardt said. "I intend to combine my research on sensor technology with the technologies available at the UK Markey Cancer Center’s Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Spectroscopy Center, which will provide new and advanced methods for studies of the dynamics of the central nervous system."

This could prove to be an enormous benefit to UK as well, because this approach should be competitive for a NSF Science and Technology Center Award that amounts to $30 million over 10 years, said Don Gash, Ph.D., professor and chair of anatomy and neurobiology, UK College of Medicine.

The RCTF Initiative will allow UK to build on programmatic strengths and build up its research infrastructure, assisting UK in its goal of becoming a top 20 public research university and the UK Chandler Medical Center with its goal of becoming a top 20 public academic medical center.

"We look forward to working with these new faculty," Collins said. "They will provide expertise and experience in important research areas that will enhance the quality and quantity of the research and teaching programs at the UK Chandler Medical Center."