Stimulus funds for UC Berkeley research now total $8.6 million

BERKELEY — With the announcement this week that the University of California, Berkeley, will receive more than $5 million in new research funding through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), the campus will have reaped $8.6 million in federal funds to help stimulate the economy. Earlier this week, Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-Oakland) announced that the National Institutes of Health will award three grants to UC Berkeley that total $5.6 million and will fund projects on infectious and immune system diseases and cancer. "In order to develop new treatments and vaccines for illnesses, we must invest in health care research," Lee said in a June 2 statement. "I am pleased that the Ninth Congressional District of California will receive these funds to continue .. groundbreaking work towards desperately needed treatments and cures." In recent months, the NIH also awarded stimulus funds to UC Berkeley in the form of two grants, for a total of $1.5 million over two years, for basic research on infectious diseases. The National Science Foundation also awarded $1.5 million in stimulus funds over three years to a campus physicist to study particles and string theory. "It's very encouraging to see the new Administration investing in top quality science," said Graham R. Fleming, UC Berkeley vice chancellor for research and the Melvin Calvin Distinguished Professor of Chemistry.