Research

Biomedical research, a topic of intense interest at the University of Kansas and throughout the nation, is the focus of a comprehensive plan proposed by Chancellor Robert Hemenway to build on KU's many assets to place the University among the nation's top institutions of higher education. The KU Medical Center and its Schools of Medicine, Allied Health, Nursing and Graduate Studies, and the Research Institute are an integral part of the University of Kansas, the only Carnegie Level One Research institution in the region. The KU School of Medicine accounts for more than 25% of the total research conducted at the university. As a state institution of higher education, pioneering research is an integral component of our mission.

The School of Medicine has several areas of research strength encompassing the entire life span from conception to the end of life.

• Our Center for Reproductive Biology is ranked first in the world. Its scientists are at the forefront of research in fertility, ovulation, embryo implantation and pregnancy maintenance. Scientists in the Child Development Unit and the Mental Retardation Research Center are examining the causes and treatment of developmental and learning disorders.
• Scientists at the Kansas Masonic Cancer Research Institute (KMCRI) conduct exciting multidisciplinary research on the basic mechanisms of cancer, and our new Kidney Institute accentuates the important renal research that propels this program to its position as a world leader.
• The AIDS research program is making exciting breakthroughs, including an AIDS vaccine now under final stages of development and it gives hope of global relief to this devastating epidemic.
• The school's internationally recognized smoking cessation programs punctuate our devotion to combat the common health problems of our community and region.
• Our faculty has created another world-class center for studying the science of aging and designing clinical services to insure improved health and quality of life.

Our Research Philosophy

We will adopt a systems approach to the study of biology and medicine, integrating information from the studies of genomics, structural biology, proteomics, and systems and networks biology and directing it toward the understanding, prevention and treatment of human disease.

Our proposed research strategy is creating the infrastructure necessary to prepare us for this approach, which we believe will change the practice of medicine and medial science in the twenty-first century.