{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.cochran.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/news-releases?ContentRecord_id=616C2BEC-671F-48D2-89C6-7C7B542F9477", "COCHRAN, OFFICIALS PRAISE LARGEST EVER NIH RESEARCH GRANT TO UMMC", "2016-08-15", "2016", "2016-08", "Republican", "House", "MS", "Thad Cochran", "C000567", "www.cochran.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senator Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) today praised the award of Mississippi\u2019s largest ever National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant, a five-year $19.5 million investment to increase capacity for clinical research in the state.Cochran, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, was joined in announcing the grant by University of Mississippi Chancellor Jeffrey Vitter and University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs LouAnn Woodward.\u00a0 The award is the direct result of the additional funding provided by Congress for the NIH Institutional Development Award (IDeA) program for FY2016.\u201cI am pleased that National Institutes of Health has confidence in the University of Mississippi Medical Center and its potential to advance medical research.\u00a0 The enhanced capability to conduct clinical trials and research will broaden Mississippi\u2019s contributions to finding cures and treatments that can benefit the public,\u201d Cochran said.\u201cWe are honored by this NIH investment to substantially enhance our capacity and success in translating research discoveries and innovations to better health outcomes,\u201d Dr. Vitter said.\u00a0 \u201cWe are grateful to Senator Cochran and the NIH for accelerating our pace toward our goal of a healthier Mississippi, and congratulate our research team at our medical center campus for winning this significant award.\u201d\u201cThe timing of this magnificent grant couldn\u2019t be better as it coincides with the development of our Translational Research Center and Clinical Research Unit, facilities that will be crucial to our success in clinical research,\u201d said Dr. Woodward.\u00a0 \u201cWe look forward to putting these assets to work in the cause of discovering tomorrow\u2019s treatments and cures.\u201dNIH will provide $3.5 million annually for five years to UMMC for an initiative titled \u201cMississippi Center for Clinical and Translational Research.\u201d\u00a0 The IDeA Program Infrastructure for Clinical and Translational Research (IDeA-CTR) grant will allow UMMC to expand the infrastructure and training necessary to conduct clinical research.\u00a0 This would include training additional nurses and physicians in the discipline of managing clinical trials and clinical research.UMMC will collaborate with the NIH Clinical Translational Science Award (CTSA) hub and other research institutions to carry out this project.The UMMC award is linked to an overall $2.0 billion increases provided by Congress for the NIH in FY2016, the largest increase since 2003.\u00a0 These resources included additional funding for IDeA, which is designed to support biomedical research in states with historically limited access to federal research grants.\u00a0 Mississippi is among 23 states and Puerto Rico currently eligible for IDeA grant awards.\u00a0 The IDeA-CTR program seeks to increase capacity for clinical and translational research in IDeA states on health issues impacting medically underserved populations and health concerns specific to those states.As chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee and a senior member of the subcommittee with jurisdiction over the NIH, Cochran has worked to ensure sufficient funding for IDeA and other research programs involving Mississippi universities and programs.\u00a0 In FY2015, the NIH invested more than $47.9 million in grants to the University of Mississippi and other institutions in Mississippi.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.cochran.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/news-releases?ContentRecord_id=616C2BEC-671F-48D2-89C6-7C7B542F9477"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9015449322760105, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}