Research & Service

Passed by Congress at the urging of President Obama in February 2009, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) was a direct response to the economic crisis and meant to prevent the country from falling into a full-fledged economic depression.

One of the ARRA’s mandates was to spur economic activity and invest in long-term economic growth. Supporting the advancement of scientific research became one of the priorities of the ARRA stimulus. The National Institutes of Health was tasked with distributing the funding ($8.2 billion) targeting projects that would “stimulate the economy, create or retain jobs, and have the potential for making scientific progress in 2 years.”

The ARRA established an unprecedented amount of funding for scientific research. With an extremely competitive application process, the National Institutes of Health – tasked with distributing the funds – sought out ambitious projects that could “make scientific progress in the next two years.”

Mailman School faculty and even some doctoral students working closely with faculty, submitted proposals for funding an array of projects tackling public health issues both local and global. The School had a high acceptance rate with more than a quarter the submissions receiving awards. In addition, more than a third of regular submissions were awarded with ARRA funds.

In the past year, awards have been given to faculty representing every department at the Mailman School.  The projects funded represent health issues facing the School’s local community in Northern Manhattan as well as issues that affect population health  around the world, including Brazil, Bangladesh, and Africa.

A number of these projects received funding in the million dollar range for work on:

• HIV/AIDS
• Biodefense and emerging infectious disease
• Effects of racism on immune function
• Association between exposure to Bisphenol A and pediatric asthma
• Study of the social determinants of health
• Prenatal organochlorine metabolities exposure and thyroid function and development
• Network determinants of risk among formerly incarcerated Latino men
• Reducing stigma and increasing access to healthcare for injection drug-users

A complete list of the ARRA-funded research projects can be found in the School’s Research & Service section.