800 East Leigh Street
Box 980568
Richmond, Virginia 23298-0568
(804) 827-2262
Fax: (804) 828-2051
research.vcu.edu

P. Srirama Rao​, Ph.D.
Vice president for research and innovation

The mission of the VCU Office of the Vice President for Research and Innovation is to foster transformative research, discovery and innovation at VCU through excellence in service.

The OVPRI partners with faculty in all schools and departments as they seek funding, plan studies, establish collaborations, calculate budgets, submit grant applications, negotiate industry contracts and secure patents and licensing agreements.

This commitment to supporting and elevating the research community at VCU has resulted in record levels of sponsored research and has placed VCU among the nation’s top 50 public research universities.

Through the passion of a dedicated and talented faculty for discovery and willingness to take on challenges, VCU continues to advance the work that matters most and position the university as a national leader in research, innovation, creativity and scholarship.

The OVPRI seeks to partner with faculty in all schools and departments. Skilled staff within each of the major divisions — sponsored programs administration, research subjects protection, animal research, technology transfer, industry partnerships, and education and oversight — look forward to helping VCU faculty in all realms of the research process.

Key research areas

VCU conducts conduct groundbreaking research that enhances the human experience and creates an impact in the sciences, arts, humanities and professional disciplines.

Core research strengths include:

  • Addiction studies
  • Pharmaceutical engineering
  • Cardiovascular health
  • Neuroscience
  • Cancer
  • Women's and children's health

The OVPRI is pleased to support a number of university-level institutes and core laboratories that facilitate a wide variety of research in the arts and the biomedical, life, physical and social sciences. In addition, there are other facilities associated with specific schools, programs or departments. However, all are available to VCU researchers, typically on a fee-for-service basis. Access to core laboratories is also possible, on a more limited basis, for outside academic and commercial users.

Those at the university level are transdisciplinary hubs to foster increased collaborative and unique research beyond the scope of what can be accomplished by an individual department, school or college. They add value to the university’s intellectual power, resources, collaborative potential and resource development while addressing critical scientific or societal problems and needs not already met within VCU.