CINCINNATI - The Ohio State University Research Foundation received nearly $22 million in research grants and contracts during the month of February, according to a report given to the university's board of trustees. The board accepted the report during its monthly meeting, held April 7 in Cincinnati.

Among the research projects is a National Dissemination Center for Career and Technical Education to be headquartered at Ohio State. Established with a first-year grant of $2.2 million from the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Vocational and Adult Education, the center is charged with putting education research into practice. The center will use web sites, e-forums and videoconferencing in addition to traditional print publications to reach educators across the nation, giving them an opportunity to learn more about career and technical education and to improve their teaching techniques. Principal investigator for the grant is Floyd L. McKinney, senior research specialist at Ohio State's Center for Education and Training for Employment, who will serve as the new center's director.

Pappachan E. Kolattukudy, professor of biochemistry and director of neurobiotechnology, is principal investigator for a $304,104 grant received in February from the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Disease. In response to the emergence of drug-resistant strains of the mycobacteria that cause tuberculosis, Kolattukudy and his colleagues are looking at Mycobacterium tuberculosis interactions in the lungs to further understanding of how the disease orginates and to develop new drugs, which are desperately needed to combat the infection.

The board accepted 179 other research grants and contracts for the month of February. Since the start of the fiscal year in July 1999, Ohio State has been awarded 1,562 grants and contracts for a total of nearly $143 million.

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