MORGANTOWN -- $175 billion of the federal stimulus plan has been made available, and $60 billion of that has been doled out to federal agencies. But programs other than road recovery are reaping the benefits of the plan.

The American Reinvestment and Recovery Act is intended to inject billions into the economy, kick starting stagnant programs and services.

More than $3 million will go to WVU faculty to reinvigorate research, create jobs, and educate our children.

Funds from the American Reinvestment & Recovery Act are awarded competitively, and WVU has claimed a large amount of its funds for the Health Sciences Center.

"Most of the funds that have come in so far are coming in from the National Institute of Health," reported Curt Peterson, Vice President of Research & Economic Development and President of the Research Corporation for WVU. "They are supporting research in the biomedical sciences; a lot of that integrates into the HSC."

The US Department of Agriculture awarded WVU's Energy Express $175,000, which has helped to fund seven additional sites.

"Each of those sites serves about 40 children, so we're going to be serving 180 additional children this summer," explained Ruthellen Phillips. "They get breakfast, they get lunch, and they get really fun, meaningful reading experiences."

Future funding for WVU will come from other Agencies such as the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy, and the Department of Defense. Peterson says the University is eager to gain advantages with future funds.

"We intend to take full advantage of the funds that are being offered, compete along with the other research universities for those funds, and to get our fair share," he said. "Then to turn those funds around and reinvest in research that we believe will benefit the citizens of West Virginia and the people of this nation."

Research topics receiving attention with these funds include:

Dr. Bernard Schreurs, WVU School of Medicine and the Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute, $402,854 studying cell changes in an animal's brain when it learns.

Dr. Mary Carter, WVU School of Medicine and the Center on Aging, $329,214, analyzing health records to measure impact of long-term health in older patients.

Dr. John Barnett, WVU School of Medicine, $402,875, continuing studies on the impact of prenatal exposure to herbicides.

Dr. Bing-Hua Jiang, School of Medicine and the Mary Babb Randolph Cancer center and Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Cell Biology, $1.1 million, studying biological effects of exposure to nanoparticles of tungsten carbide-cobalt & studying why arsenic leads to cancer.

Dr. Earl Scime, Eberly Distinguished Professor & chair of the WVU Department of Physics, $562,569, experimental investigation of ion heating due to magnetohydrodynamic waves, recreating plasmas that have key features of the solar corona.

Dr. Rae Matsumoto, associate dean for research and graduate programs at the WVU School of Pharmacy, $19,924, supporting students who will help with new approaches to mitigate the effects of drugs like cocaine and methamphetamine.

David Klinke, assistant professor of chemical engineering in the College of Engineering and Mineral Resources, $39,000, utilizing sophisticated computer modeling techniques aimed at understanding cell behavior - aimed at improved treatments for breast cancer.

For more information on the American Reinvestment & Recovery Act, visit the link below.