Research

The NRPA brings together more than 290 faculty from nine colleges from across the university to support collaborative, basic, clinical, and clinical-translational neurosciences research.

The mission of the University of Kentucky Neuroscience Institute Clinical Research Organization (CRO) is to foster the development and support the conduct of world-class neuroscience clinical trials and clinical translational research. Given the ever-changing climate in the health care environment, the increasingly complex requirements for the conduct of clinical studies and care for human research participants necessitate a careful and well-structured management organization. The KNI-CRO serves this role by providing guidance through its clinical trials and research expertise, economies of scale and institutional support. The KNI-CRO is a clinical trial management organization housed in the College of Medicine at the University of Kentucky Medical Center (UKMC). It is comprised of a diverse staff dedicated to implement and conduct clinical research in a timely manner and with the highest standards of Good Clinical Practice.

The KNI is discovering new and advanced ways to bring findings from the researcher's lab bench to the patient's bedside through clinical trials and research grants. By combining the expertise of researchers and physicians, KNI can offer the most advanced treatments.

Patients involved in research trials for neurodegenerative diseases are also monitored and evaluated for a longer period of time in comparison to the typical 60 day study. Factors such as ease of movement, communication and overall satisfaction with life are examined from a longitudinal approach. Such studies include the first North American Phase I clinical trial for Parkinson's disease.

UK’s Gatton College of Business is home to one of the regional National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded Federal Statistical Research Data Centers and is the only one in the east-central region of the country. In a secure data environment, researchers with approved projects can utilize different federal statistical datasets from the Bureau of the Census, the National Center for Health Statistics, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the Bureau of Justice Statistics, Housing and Urban Development, Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the Department of Agriculture. The center supports research on topics spanning income inequality, poverty measurement and anti-poverty policies, education, health disparities across geographic regions, race and gender, among others.

The UK College of Medicine Department of Neurology, with support from the College, developed the Neurology Faculty Pilot Award Program to encourage faculty with a primary appointment in neurology who are early in their careers (i.e., Assistant Professor) and who are interested in pursuing clinical, translational, or basic research. The program provides a one-year award of up to $20,000 for a successful application. In addition to the strength of the science, a successful application will show evidence that the resulting data will support a competitive application for extramural funding. To help ensure this, the proposal must be multidisciplinary (i.e., include at least one colleague from another unit of the University outside of the department of neurology). Additional information and guidance may be obtained from the Kentucky Neuroscience Institute Clinical Research Office (KNI CRO).