Note: An enhanced version of this news release with video is available online.

By Cary Shimek, UM News Service

MISSOULA – Asia Riel came to the University of Montana as a graduate student, chasing the mysteries of small molecules, ion channels and organic catalysts. She worked in UM labs, earned her doctorate in organic chemistry in 2019 and landed a research professor position with the University’s Center for Translational Medicine.

Now the homegrown scientist is paying big dividends for UM’s research enterprise. Riel is the lead on a new $10.2 million contract from the National Institutes of Health to improve vaccines targeted at tuberculosis and fungal infections. She works as part of the center’s Adjuvant Research Team.

“Adjuvants are small molecules that go into vaccines to help enhance the body’s protective immune response against whatever pathogen we are targeting,” Riel said. “So the end goal of this award is to create a novel adjuvant that enhances or skews an immune response for either bacterial or fungal vaccines.

“It feels amazing to earn a big award like this,” she continued, “because it feels like we can make a difference.”

Faculty members like Riel helped research expenditures at UM hit an all-time record of $143.8 million during the past fiscal year – a jump of 14% over the previous year. Scott Whittenburg, UM vice president for research and creative scholarship, said the University’s research expenditures stood at $55 million in 2014. Under his leadership during the past decade, that figure has jumped 161%.

Whittenburg also helped crack the code that enabled UM to become a top-tier “R1” research institution in 2022. Only about 3.7% of degree-granting colleges in the U.S. earn this elite designation from the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. He contends graduating to R1 was more of a puzzle for UM, which doesn’t have an engineering or medical school and isn’t a land-grant university pulling in agriculture research dollars.

So how did it happen?

“When I got here, we had amazing faculty, and I was actually surprised at how little funded research we were doing,” Whittenburg said. “What we did was try to build more support for our researchers and encourage their hard work. We continued hiring talented people – hardworking faculty – who want to live in this beautiful place.

“There were a lot of other factors involved,” he said, “but I think as long as people are successful getting their proposals funded, they will continue to write more and more because of the high success rate on what we submit. The Research Development Office at UM also provides a lot of support on proposal preparation. It’s a cycle that fuels continued growth, as success breeds success.”

Instead of awards to individual faculty members, much of the new growth is channeled through UM’s growing menu of centers and institutes. Whittenburg said these research clusters allow UM to tackle larger projects and become more likely to be the lead institution on big scientific awards. He said the Center for Translational Medicine, where Riel works, has been a standout in this regard, but other stars include the Montana Climate Office, the L.S. Skaggs Institute for Heath Innovation, the National Center for Landscape Fire Analysis and the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Center.

“I’ll get in trouble if I start trying to name all the names,” Whittenburg said. “It’s been an incredible team effort from the entire campus to make all this happen.”

UM’s R1 status and surging research operation also opened up future opportunities.

UM-based Accelerate Montana, for example, is the lead on a new $41 million award from the U.S. Economic Development Administration and its Regional Technology and Innovation Hub Program. This funding created the Headwaters Hub, which will use the science of light waves to create autonomous remote-sensing systems to address critical defense, resource management and disaster-prevention needs. The EDA only created 12 such tech hubs across the nation from 300 initial applications.

“It’s all about creating an economic driver for our region,” Whittenburg said.

UM also recently advanced in a national competition to try for $160 million in NSF funding. Whittenburg is the principal investigator on the project, which would create an “NSF Engine” called the Forest and Rangeland Technology Hub for Economic Resilience.

Dubbed FARTHER, the hub will develop precision foresty and rangeland technology and is designed to enhance economic growth in Montana, Idaho and area tribal nations. UM is the leader in the effort, which will develop a full grant submission by February 2025. Partners include regional universities, nonprofits, government agencies, industries and capital firms.

“This is an exciting opportunity to build the economy of our region,” said Zia Maumenee, director of FARTHER. “Our inclusive approach and unique partnerships make this two-state initiative collaborative in nature and robust in impact. This grant can bring significant investment by catalyzing use-inspired research to help solve some of the most pressing issues we face, including fire, flood, drought and biodiversity loss.”

UM researchers work with partners worldwide to achieve global impact. Whittenburg points to the Shanghai Ranking, which ranks academic subjects among 5,000 universities. UM is in the top 100 globally for ecology, top 200 for atmospheric science and top 400 for earth sciences, as well as environmental and science and engineering. Those reputational ranks are tops for a Montana university.

Whittenburg said the current trajectory of research growth at UM remains strong, and he hopes for another record next year. However, not all indicators are positive for the long term. While the number of proposals by UM faculty members is still rising at a healthy rate, the dollar values of the research awards are flattening out.

The recent election also creates a new climate regarding federal research dollars. While there is concern regarding the size of the federal budget, Whittenburg said, historically both parties have supported academic research – particularly science that sparks economic development.

Jay Evans directs UM’s Center for Translational Medicine and knows a bit about development and growth. He and the original 15 scientists of the Adjuvant Research Team joined the University in 2016, when they also launched the UM-affiliated company Inimmune. The center, Inimmune and other partners have generated about $170 million in funding during the past decade.

The CTM team also has expanded to 45, and Inimmune employs 35. They work to improve vaccines for everything from heroin and fentanyl addiction to influenza, monkeypox and COVID-19. Some of their projects have moved to human trials.

Evans said one huge benefit of being based at a university is employing students in their labs.

“A lot of new ideas come from students, and they bring an excitement and energy to the research lab,” he said “They also use us to advance their education.”

Evans said his research group often hires student workers after they graduate. If they want to move on, they have received several years of on-the-job training to make them more competitive in the marketplace. But sometimes they keep their talents in Montana.

“Asia (Riel) is a great example of that,” he said. “We had a faculty position open up, and she moved into it. And now she’s landed her first big NIH contract to advance research. She’s an example of an internal hire that’s been a great success.”

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Contact: Dave Kuntz, UM director of strategic communications, 406-243-5659, dave.kuntz@umontana.edu; Scott Whittenburg, UM vice president for research and creative scholarship, 406-243-6670, scott.whittenburg@umontana.edu.