(Razan Asmar / Daily Trojan)

A report from the National Science Foundation reveals a notable stride USC made in 2022. The University dedicated $1.04 billion to the advancement of science, technology, engineering and mathematics research and development, marking a 9% surge from last year’s spending on the same department.

USC has been the recipient of several grants and support in the past to give its research projects the funding and resources they need to succeed. Recently, the institution achieved a milestone by investing $1 billion of research funding, which is intended to support research efforts and creative projects led by staff and students. USC’s financial support attempts to contribute to its mission to expand the frontiers of academic exploration and innovation.

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An increase in funding directly contributes to the expansion and advancement of academic pursuits within research centers and facilities. However, questions arise concerning where USC acquired these funds from and how USC-affiliated organizations have utilized them effectively.

“I would venture to say that [USC researchers’] impact is amplified by being at USC because of the culture of excellence that we have, and the investments that President Folt has made and encouraged into the research enterprise,” said Ishwar Puri, the senior vice president of research and innovation. 

Puri spoke on the importance of funding a startup such as Regenerative Patch Technologies, a regenerative medical research institution co-founded by USC faculty. He said approaching startups as an investor requires a unique perspective because “you have to allow for failure and not castigate people for failure.” 

Puri’s approval of a $2 million grant played a crucial role in RPT’s success in completing phase one of their implant development for degenerative optic diseases. He also praised the work that the Office of Research and Innovation has done for USC’s research initiatives. 

“We’re not just a university that gives excellent undergraduate degrees or excellent professional master’s degrees,” he said. “We’re also a university that’s making a real difference in the world by providing solutions that are sustainable.”

USC introduced two loans sponsored by the National Institutes of Health called the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer programs in 2023, which are dedicated to providing support for medical initiatives in their developmental stages. These programs, designed to provide internal funding for projects at USC, are given to eligible faculty and staff lacking the necessary resources for the initial stages of project development. RPT was one of the faculty-initiated projects that received assistance from these programs, which collectively served as a launchpad into the early phases for RPT’s implant production project.

In a statement to the Daily Trojan, Sanguk Han, president of the Trojan Research Association, wrote “the allocations have been largely for individual labs or centers,” providing insight into how recipients of grants choose to utilize the funding they receive from USC.

Han said he looks forward to USC’s sustained support for such endeavors in the future. “We would like to see more funding that can compensate undergraduates who otherwise cannot make commitments for research due to financial constraints.

Although internal funding has been a significant aspect of the overall financial support USC organizations have received, a majority of the investments are received through external programs and institutions. Funding for research initiatives primarily comes from federal grants, with more than half of the 2022 R&D expenditures sourced from the federal government. 

One of USC’s most prominent external funding sources is the NIH, which devotes nearly $48 billion to medical researchers and institutions of innovation. The NIH has dedicated over $43 million in financial support for the University’s research and development contracts and research centers in 2023. 

In October 2023, USC received a $20 million grant from the National Cancer Institute. The funding went  toward research on mitigating the harmful effects of e-cigarettes and nicotine use through the creation of marketing and public policy reformations. 

“We’re studying the impact of factors such as product types and marketing strategies across these diverse communities so we know upfront that any resulting policies won’t have uneven benefits for different groups,” said Chanita Hughes-Halbert, USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center’s associate director for cancer equity, in a press release. 

There is a steady increase in the amount of funding distributed to research projects every year. The research and development community at USC expresses optimism regarding the accumulation of funds for years to come and the impact it will create for the initiatives receiving them. 

“We don’t know what the future brings because we are way upstream,” Puri said. “But what we can do is we can aspire and we can dream.”

President Carol Folt commented on the future of USC’s research community in a Jan. 18 press release on USC’s historic financial investment. 

“Our ambitious moonshots in advanced computing, health and sustainability will continue to accelerate the growth of our research enterprise in every way imaginable,” Folt said.