Technology Research Initiative Fund (TRIF)

The Technology and Research Initiative Fund (TRIF) is a special investment in higher education made possible by the passage of Proposition 301 by Arizona voters in 2000. The TRIF portion of the proceeds from a six-tenths of a cent increase in state sales tax are administered by the Arizona Board of Regents and given to the state's public universities. At the University of Arizona, TRIF funds support creative research efforts in critical high-technology areas, translation of research results to clinical or commercial application, and education of a workforce prepared for the knowledge-based economy of the 21st Century. Funds also support specialized research facilities, enhancement of technology transfer, and distance-learning activities.

Research-intensive TRIF activities fall under three Programs that capitalize on broad research and teaching strengths that meet important community needs:

• Bioresearch, which includes the BIO5 Institute for bioscience and biotechnology, the McKnight Brain Institute, and the Arizona Clinical and Translational Research and Educational Consortium;
• Optical Sciences and Technology, which has especially strong ties with industry; and
• Water and Environmental Sustainability, which includes Water Sustainability and Translational Environmental Research initiatives.

Our fourth Program, in Education and Infrastructure, includes the Educator Development Plan, distance education through Anyplace Access for Arizonans, and on-line degree and certificate programs of the College of Nursing. Cross-cutting, foundational support for many activities is provided through Critical Core Infrastructure and Technology Transfer Infrastructure.

BIORESEARCH PROGRAM

The TRIF UA Bioresearch Program carries out leading edge interdisciplinary research and training initiatives, provides crucial technology platforms and clinical trials infrastructure, and tackles complex and pressing problems of critical importance to Arizona and the nation. Its initiatives are developing new ways to diagnose, treat and prevent disease; uncovering the biological basis of cognition and developing methods to reduce the negative impact of aging, and improving agriculture to better feed the world while maintaining livable environments. Through its research programs in bioengineering, drug discovery, genome structure and function, quantitative biology, and the neural basis for memory changes, UA scientists address cancer, diabetes, heart, neurological and respiratory diseases, cognition and aging; develop new diagnostic tools; improve yield and nutritional quality of crops; and develop plants as sources of pharmaceuticals.

We are building the infrastructure to transfer research breakthroughs into applications that directly benefit society. One key aspect is the training of a new generation of clinical and translational scientists, who are bridging the gap between basic and clinical sciences and who will transform cutting edge knowledge into medicines to treat patients and preserve health. This requires the creation of statewide structures for clinical and translational research, application of biomedical informatics and enabling technologies, and financial support of teams of clinical and translational investigators. A second key aspect is moving discoveries to market through innovative programs and multiple partnerships with the private sector. A third key aspect is improving science education in K-12 and training the next generation of interdisciplinary scientists.

Vicki Chandler has overall responsibility for the TRIF UA Bioresearch Program, which supports three initiatives: the BIO5 Institute (directed by Vicki Chandler), the McKnight Brain Institute (directed by Carol Barnes) and ACTREC (Arizona Clinical and Translational Research and Education Consortium; directed by M. Peter Lance). Measures and goals are combined for all three initiatives.

EDUCATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE PROGRAM

Critical to the economic viability of Arizona are highly trained workers, accessible quality healthcare, state-of-the-art information systems, and knowledge-based industries. In November of 2000, the Technology and Research Initiative Fund (TRIF) was created through Proposition 301 to support programs aimed at these and other educational needs.

Five initiatives comprise TRIF-funded Infrastructure programs. Individually, they have created new educational programs, expanded access to educational content, and built an infrastructure to move local research efforts to the market place. Combined, they are changing how knowledge is conceived and consumed - on and off campus - and are building bridges to educational, corporate, and health care entities throughout the state and beyond.

Workforce Initiative: The Educator Development Plan (EDP) addresses the shortage of highly trained math, science and agriculture science teachers by designing new curricula and supporting program graduates to remain in the state. Direct outcomes are an increase in teaching resources and a direct impact on K-12 students in classrooms with newly certified teachers.

In healthcare, service delivery systems have not kept pace with the explosion of information and technology. College of Nursing Online Graduate Degree and Certification Programs(NOP) expands access to high quality nursing education by delivering course content with distance learning, internet-related technology. The online Nursing Ph.D. program is the first of its kind. New degrees and certificates are being developed to meet the needs not only of students, but of residents throughout the state - particularly in rural areas.

Anyplace Access for Arizonans (AAA) responds to workforce and workplace needs by exploiting information and communication technologies to offer the best of public higher education and outreach activities to all Arizonans, regardless of place. Participants seek knowledge and information for use in work and life settings - knowledge that can increase lifelong earnings, improve productivity on the job, and solve practical problems in their daily lives.

Critical Core Infrastructure (CCI) centralizes support for selected high technology research fields that depend on laboratory facilities, advanced computing resources and high bandwidth connectivity. While TRIF investments in infrastructure were made throughout the first five years, these investments were made one initiative at a time. Investments in research buildings, assuring appropriate laboratory space, occur as debt service. Investments in computing and communications infrastructure occur within the central computing organization, UITS. The goal is to enable research, and by enabling research, to contribute to regional economic development.

Technology Transfer Infrastructure Plan (TTIP) supports the UA as a driver of an Arizona knowledge-base economy by moving research to the market place, creating new knowledge-based industries, and bringing UA innovations into broad and public commercial uses. The initiative supports the collaborative environment for research within the UA exemplified by the TRIF Research Programs. Working together with those programs, the plan integrates their translational efforts with economic development and market activities driven by UA's Office of Economic Development (OED) and Office of Technology Transfer (OTT).

OPTICAL SCIENCES AND TECHNOLOGY PROGRAM

The UA College of Optical Sciences is home to the TRIF Optical Sciences and Technology Program. The program is multidisciplinary, with the College of Optical Sciences forming the core of the initiative. Through joint faculty appointments, cooperative research initiatives, and multidisciplinary outreach events, the optics college partners with the College of Science, the College of Engineering, and the College of Medicine to develop new technologies that will power the future of nearly every field of science and technology.

The impact of optics on the economy of the State of Arizona and the country as a whole in the coming years is staggering. The market for optics in communication, medical care, heavy industry, sensing and security, and military exceeds $200 billion per year.

The mission of the TRIF Optical Sciences and Technology Program is to further enhance the University's international preeminent optics program through the development of novel initiatives in optics education, research, workforce development, and industry outreach.

WATER AND ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY

Arizona's natural resources, most critically its water supplies, are crucial to the state's economy and to the health and well-being of its residents. The most pressing environmental issues of our time are especially apparent in arid and semi-arid regions of the globe where population growth is most rapid and life-supporting resources are most limited. As the leading university in the world with expertise in water, as well as being in the forefront with regard to interdisciplinary work in the earth sciences and environmental studies, The University of Arizona' s Water & Environmental Sustainability Program (WESP) is uniquely positioned to use its strengths to support university, industry, and government collaborations in research, technology, education, and outreach to resolve water and environmental resource challenges. The mission of the WESP is to provide science-based technical, economic, legal, and policy expertise within water resources, earth and environmental sciences, in support of Arizona's population, economy and quality of life. It is anticipated that the knowledge and techniques generated will have world-wide applications that will stimulate the economy and produce far-reaching societal benefits.

Together, the two components of WESP, the Water Sustainability Program (WSP) and the Translational Environmental Research (TER) initiative will create synergies for The University of Arizona to be a world leader in interdisciplinary, cutting-edge water and environmental research and in applying results to resolve resource challenges at the state, national, and international level.