The University of Kentucky is shining a light on how National Institutes of Health funding helps drive research in a new social media campaign.
It involves short-form social media videos where UK researchers discuss topics like cancer, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, substance use disorder and obesity. They’re posted on platforms like YouTube, Instagram, X and LinkedIn.
Vice President for Research Ilhem Messaoudi says it’s meant to better communicate the work university researchers are doing.
“Our goal was really to tell our story, to tell our community what it is that we're spending their money on, and what we are focused on, and to really bring it home, that we're not researchers in some obscure space here on campus, doing some esoteric things,” she said.
That comes amid potential federal funding cuts to NIH grants. Messaoudi says the campaign’s idea had been conceived before those cuts became a possibility.
“This was truly a dream of mine from the very beginning when I took over the role. Now, probably our timeline was changed by the current climate that we're in,” Messaoudi said. “But what I always say to our research community is that the work that you do is incredibly important for our community.”
Plans are also being made to highlight programs funded by other federal agencies, like the National Science Foundation and USDA.
The university says NIH funding made up more than $160 million of its grant funding last fiscal year.
