Fred Eshelman donated $100 million dollars in December, 2014 to the pharmacy school which holds his namesake.
Nearly a year later, the first round of funding from the largest gift in UNC history is being given to pharmacy school faculty and staff with innovative ideas.
“For us it’s a wonderful opportunity for our faculty, staff and students to take on exciting new problems,” said Dean of the Eshelman School of Pharmacy Bob Blouin.
Eshelman’s donation was used to create the Eshelman Institute for Innovation, which Blouin said will operate differently than the typical research funding agency.
“The intent was this would not be analogous to an NIH review, but rather more in line with the way a venture capital company might look at ideas,” he said. “The measure of the quality of the proposal will be primarily based on the quality and impactfulness of the idea.”
He said this is a break from the way many institutions fund research projects.
“I think the mindset is currently across most funding agencies, a mindset of incrementalism,” Blouin said. “Now we’re coming across with this new opportunity to think not in an incremental way, but rather a transformative way.”
In the first round of funding, 53 proposals were submitted to the school and 23 were accepted. Between those 23 projects, a total of $9.2 million was awarded.
“That’s the beauty of this gift,” Blouin said. “It gives us a chance to experiment with ideas that perhaps aren’t ready to be submitted to other institutions.”
Funding for the first round of projects ranges anywhere from $50,000 to $2 million. A complete list of the projects funded can be found on the institute’s website.
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