Therefore, I am pleased to announce the creation of the Presidential Research Enhancement Fund (PREF), which is being funded by an investment of $1 million. It is my intent to add an additional $1 million to this fund each year.

This fund will establish a grant program to stimulate multi-investigator projects. We are particularly interested in enhancing opportunties to acquire extramural, peer-reviewed research funding, such as NIH program projects and center grants.

I want to express my appreciation to the members of the Institutional Strategic Research Planning Committee, chaired by Dr. Brian Herman, for their assistance in designing this program. The committee has recommended broad flexibility in the use of these PREF funds and I am confident this new program will greatly enhance our research success.

Details regarding the application and evaluation criteria can be found on the HSC's Office of Sponsored Programs Web site at

http://research.uthscsa.edu/osp/institutional/pref/pref.htm

I am confident that these funds will provide a strong stimulus to investigators to further enhance the top-notch research activities already underway. I hope that you and your colleagues will consider applying for one of these grants.

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