Faculty-led research projects ranging from developing therapies for cancer and opioid withdrawal symptoms to creating artificial wetlands for sewage treatment in urban settings are among the 21 projects that have been awarded funding from the 2024 Virginia Commonwealth University Quest Fund.

The fund, administered by VCU’s Office of the Vice President for Research and Innovation, addresses major societal challenges through the support of transdisciplinary pilot and existing projects led by university researchers.

The Quest Fund was developed to afford VCU faculty an internal funding opportunity to support new, emerging or continuing research. Since 2014, when it was originally named the Presidential Research Quest Fund, it has supported more than 100 projects, with past recipients continuing their projects and applying for additional funding beyond VCU so their work can expand, with the eventual goal of translation to practice or market. With Quest Fund investments reaching over $3 million, its supported projects have garnered millions more in state, federal, private and industry funding. 

“The VCU Quest Fund mechanism has transformed to one of the OVPRI’s largest internal funding opportunities, with 10 years of investments and projects funded,” said P. Srirama Rao, Ph.D., vice president for research and innovation. “The impact of these projects has the potential to truly save millions of lives and benefit our society for future generations.”

The 2024 VCU Quest Fund grant recipients/principal investigators include Tracye Proffitt, Ph.D., assistant professor of adult health and nursing systems in the School of Nursing, for the project, “Tracking the Trajectory of Physical Recovery: A Study Examining Physical Impairment in Survivors of Critical Illness.”

To learn more about the VCU Quest Fund as well as additional internal funding opportunities under the One VCU Research Strategic Priorities Plan, visit the plan website. To find external funding supporting knowledge creation in and across all disciplines, visit the OVPRI funding page.

A version of this story was originally published by VCU News