UVa earns research honor

The Hartwell Foundation recently ranked the Univer-sity of Virginia among the top 10 places for biomedical research.

This is the second consecutive year UVa has made the Hartwell list.

In selecting schools for the list, Hartwell weighed the importance researchers place on children’s health and the “scope of ongoing biomedical research,” according to a news release issued by the university.

UVa also earned high marks because of its association with the medical school and biomedical engineering program.

UVa biomedical engineer Richard Price received a $300,000 grant from the Hartwell Foundation this year. That grant came for a treatment he has worked on involving brain tumors in children.

The Hartwell designation has also allowed for funding UVa cell-biology researcher Cynthia Grimsley-Myers’ work. That money will allow for Grimsley-Myers to further her research on defects in inner-ear development, a leading cause of childhood deafness.

One primary goal of the Hartwell Foundation is to provide money for early-stage biomedical research projects — primarily focusing on those with potential benefits to children — that are not yet properly funded, the release said.