The University of North Dakota medical school is getting a $10.3 million federal grant that its dean says will make the school a leader in studying brain diseases.

"I think the word that comes to mind is, it will catapult us," Dr. H. David Wilson said Friday. "It will help us become more competitive with other institutions. We think we have some brilliant young scientists. We just believe they need the money to get started." Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., said the five-year National Institutes of Health grant is funded through a program created for universities in smaller states. It will be used for studies on such disorders as Parkinson's disease, autism and epilepsy, at a new "Center for Biomedical Research Excellence," he said.

Wilson said he believes it is the largest grant ever received by the medical school, which had to apply twice to get it.

"This is a very competitive grant and we competed with a number of other states," the dean said.

Wilson said six researchers will be able to hire technicians and buy supplies. Dr. Jody Rada, an associate professor of anatomy and cell biology, will coordinate the research, he said.

"The research will be in the area of neuroscience, looking at neurodegenerative diseases - Lou Gehrig's disease, Parkinson's - those sorts of things where the central service system begins to break down," Wilson said.

"This is critical because we have an aging population. We need to be looking ahead," he said.

Wilson, who has been the medical school dean for more than seven years, said 75 percent of such grants general go toward salaries.

"There's been a lot of talk about higher ed, economic development," he said.

"This is the way the medical school can do our part ... that's $10 million that would not come to North Dakota if we were not here, and I'm very proud of that."

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