It was my pleasure as Vice President for Research to host a Staff Appreciation luncheon at the Gatton Student Center on June 11 to recognize the outstanding work of our research administrative staff.

After lunch, I shared some evidence of the success of the UK research enterprise. We are exceeding our goal for R&D expenditures in the UK Strategic Plan—a 1.9 percent increase per year. In 2016, UK increased expenditures by 3 percent and in 2017 by 7 percent. UK’s ranking in the 2016 NSF Higher Education Research & Development (HERD) Survey went up an unprecedented five spots in just one year among all institutions—public and private.

Much of our research is done in an effort to tackle Kentucky’s most pressing health disparities—cancer, cardiovascular diseases including stroke, substance abuse, diabetes and obesity. We are excited about the opening of Research Building 2 this fall and the opportunity it gives us to recruit new investigators to partner with our outstanding current scientists and clinicians to help us meet these challenges.

None of these things would be possible without the dedication of our research staff. Thank you for everything you do for the University of Kentucky. We can’t serve the Commonwealth and beyond without your hard work and expertise.

See the presentation pdf (linked above) for highlights from the units that support our research enterprise: Research Administrative and Fiscal Affairs, Office of Sponsored Projects Administration (OSPA), Research Information Services, Office of Technology Commercialization (OTC), Office of Research Integrity (ORI), Proposal Development Office (PDO), Research Communications, Attending Veterinarian and Division of Laboratory Animal Services (DLAR).