Science researchers at the University say they are enjoying a spike in federal funding, thanks in large part to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. So far, the University has received around $80 million in stimulus-related research funding, most of it for science. The money comes as a result of some 200 grants the University has received in the last year, culled from more than 900 grants for which University researchers applied.

Federal research dollars have mostly funded projects at the medical school. In June, for example, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) extended a five-year, $37 million grant to medical researchers studying biodefense and emerging infectious diseases in the Midwest. The NIH also gave the medical school $19 million to study microbes in the human body and the role they play in health and disease.

George Weinstock, professor of genetics at the medical school, is heading the medical school’s microbe study. Weinstock is also directing a $2 million stimulus-funded study on a bacterial infection called MRSA.

“We are doing very well and are in an expansion mode as we received funding for about 10 projects last year,” Weinstock said. “We’re going a little nuts keeping up with all the work, but it’s a heady feeling to have the opportunity to do so much cool science and contribute to the biomedical realm.”

Weinstock said science research is only just getting a jump-start in funding now that President Bush has left office.

“The Bush administration did a tremendous amount of damage to funding for scientific research,” Weinstock said. “Prior to the administration, there had been a lot more funding for the NIH. We’ll just have to see in the new administration whether they’re going to be able to get the momentum back in the scientific research.”

He said stimulus funding has proven helpful to scientific research, but it does not guarantee strong science research funding from Obama in the future.

“We’re still navigating choppy waters, and time will tell how it all comes out,” Weinstock said.

$20 million biology grant is largest ever to Danforth Campus

Not all of the University’s federal research funding has gone to the medical school. Last spring, the University received its largest-ever award to the Danforth Campus, a $20 million grant to study light energy. The award was not a part of the government’s stimulus funding but came through the Department of Energy.

The $20 million is going toward the establishment of a Photosynthetic Antenna Research Center (PARC) on campus, in which scientists will study the harnessing of energy from light. Robert Blankenship, a professor in the biology and chemistry departments, is heading the project. He said the study will focus on identifying the principles that govern natural photosynthetic antenna systems, such as the ones bacteria use to create energy, as a basis for designing solar-powered energy systems.

“We start with the purely natural antennas, that we’ve found in organisms. Then we go to the bio-hybrids, half natural, half synthetic. Then finally, we move on to the purely synthetic systems, things you might design for an artificial complex,” Blankenship said. “But they’re all designed to address the same issue of light collection.”

Blankenship said he learned that the project had received funding when President Obama announced the grant at the National Academy of Sciences last April.

“It was sort of like, your life has just changed,” Blankenship said of hearing that his project had just been given $20 million.

He said research projects like his are getting funded in higher numbers with money from the stimulus. But he reiterated Weinstock’s message that this does not mean science research has a stable future.

“Science has struggled for years to keep the enterprise going, so I think the Recovery Act funding was welcome in that sense,” Blankenship said. “The thing is the Recovery Act money is kind of a one-time shot.”

Bus routes serving the Danforth Campus changed when Metro restored a large amount of previously eliminated bus service on Aug. 3. (Evan Wiskup | Student Life)

St. Louis Metro on Monday restored more than half of the bus service the agency slashed last spring, thanks to funding from the state and U.S. governments this past summer.

Metro restored about 55 percent of the bus service cut on March 30, along with Call-a-Ride service around the restored service area. The restored bus service includes seven new routes and changes and additions to others.

The money, amounting to more than $18 million, will fund the restorations until next May.

Metro also altered the bus routes that serve the Danforth Campus. There are some major changes to the Red Line and smaller ones to the Gold Line. The Green Line, which connects campus with areas around the Delmar Loop, remains unchanged. Several bus routes serving Washington University’s other campuses also changed.

“So many routes serve Washington University’s five various campuses though, so any significant change in service is going to impact the University community,” said Jessica Mefford-Miller, Metro’s acting chief of planning and service development.

After getting the money, Metro took input from the public on what routes to restore. Members of the University community gave a great deal of feedback, Mefford-Miller said.

Metro cut 36 percent of its bus and Call-a-Ride services and 32 percent of light-rail service on March 30 due to budget concerns. Late last spring and over the summer, Metro got $12 million from the state government and just over $6 million from the Federal Transit Administration.

A lot of school community members who gave feedback work at or attend the medical school, Mefford-Miller said. Many also live in West County, which lost most of its bus service on March 30, or in North County, which also lost a large amount. Metro restored much of the service those areas lost.

She said school officials did not request any specific changes. The school administration has influenced how Metro has planned some routes in the past.

The federal and Missouri funding for Metro was somewhat unexpected after the agency failed to find funds early this year to stave off its cuts.

The FTA rejected Metro’s initial request for funding in March but then changed its mind in late June.

The state legislature also changed its mind by passing a bill with the $12 million in mid-May. Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon signed the funding provision into law on June 25. Metro initially asked the legislature for $35 million in early March to restore full service, but the General Assembly rejected that and a $20 million funding bill later.

St. Louis County might ask voters in April to consider another Proposition M, a half-cent sales tax that would fund full transit service for the long term. County voters rejected last November’s Proposition M by 3 percent due largely to concerns about the economy and the agency’s past troubles managing its finances.

Mefford-Miller encourages students and staff to go to Metro’s Web site to view updated maps and schedules, even if they regularly use Metro, due to the magnitude of the changes.

Click here for ideas of places to travel using the Metro system.

Read Student Life this fall for full details.