Research

About UK's Research

For the first time in University of Kentucky (UK) history, faculty received $429.2M in competitive research awards last fiscal year. This is a 3% increase from FY19, which itself was a record-breaking 25% increase from the previous year.

Federal grants and contracts, which are highly competitive, totaled $272.2M, 63.4% of UK’s total awards in FY20. Federal awards increased by 13% overall, with notable increases in the following agencies: 

• National Institutes of Health (NIH) +3%
• Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), non-NIH Agencies +38%
• Department of Energy +21%
• Department of Defense +266%
• Department of Education +38%
• NASA +30%
• National Science Foundation (NSF) +9.7%

This growth includes continued funding for the largest grant UK has ever received: the HEALing Communities award from the NIH National Institute on Drug Abuse and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the HEALing Communities team fast-tracked naloxone distribution to Kentucky jails to reach soon-to-be released inmates, whom research shows are at increased risk of overdose.

The tenacity and persistence of UK researchers, many of whom saw substantial disruptions to their research efforts from March to June 2020, yielded new grants and contracts totaling $8.7M to address the COVID-19 pandemic. From membrane-based face masks to capture and inactivate the virus on contact, to special antibodies made by alpacas that could help us understand the novel coronavirus and potentially develop treatments to protect people from infection, UK investigators are using their unparalleled expertise and creativity to address this pandemic. 

In total for FY20, UK successfully competed for 1,710 grants and contracts, submitted by 771 researchers to more than 580 funding agencies.

For more information on UK's research, click here.

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Kentucky CAN HEAL Grant

The grant

• $87M awarded to the University of Kentucky by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and Mental Health Administration
• 4 sites funded: University of Kentucky, Ohio State University, Boston Medical Center and Columbia University

The Goals

• To test the immediate impact of an integrated set of evidence-based interventions across healthcare, behavioral health, justice and other community-based settings
• To prevent and treat opioid misuse and opioid use disorder in highly effected communities 
• Reduce opioid related deaths by 40% over 3 years

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Grant and Contract Awards