RIVERSIDE, Calif. – Tobacco-related disease kills more people worldwide than any other single factor. To help address this problem, the University of California, Riverside has received six grants from the University of California Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program ( TRDRP ), the most TRDRP grants the campus has received in any year.
Totaling more than $850,000, the grants will fund research on topics ranging from third-hand smoke to the effect of cigarette smoke on reproduction.
"These awards are very competitive," said Prue Talbot, one of the recipients of a TRDRP grant this year and the director of the UCR Stem Cell Center . "We now have five labs working in tobacco-related research at UCR, making us one of the stronger UC campuses in this area. By adding new labs, we are building a cohesive research force that will be attractive to students and will create a synergistic research group on our campus in this area."
This year, the TRDRP awards went to:
"Applicants from more than 80 research institutions in California compete every year for these prestigious grants," said Kamlesh Asotra, a research administrator at UC TRDRP. "UC Riverside scientists secured these grant awards exclusively because of their cutting-edge and high impact proposals in myriad areas of tobacco-related disease and tobacco control research. This success demonstrates that UCR scientists are making significant efforts and contributions in the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of tobacco-related public health problems in California, and this bodes well for UCR to become a future leader in this important research arena."
UC TRDRP supports research that focuses on the prevention, causes, and treatment of tobacco-related disease and the reduction of the human and economic costs of tobacco use in California.
The University of California, Riverside ( www.ucr.edu ) is a doctoral research university, a living laboratory for groundbreaking exploration of issues critical to Inland Southern California, the state and communities around the world. Reflecting California's diverse culture, UCR's enrollment of about 18,000 is expected to grow to 21,000 students by 2020. The campus is planning a medical school and has reached the heart of the Coachella Valley by way of the UCR Palm Desert Graduate Center. The campus has an annual statewide economic impact of more than $1 billion.
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