Kristine Steffen, NDSU professor of pharmaceutical sciences, and Sandro Steinbach, NDSU associate professor of agribusiness and applied economics, have each received $75,000 awards from the Transformative Research Leadership Program, which was launched by the NDSU Research and Creative Activity Office.
“One of the ongoing challenges at NDSU is helping researchers balance the time they need to do groundbreaking work with their other responsibilities. Faculty buyouts are a proven method of allowing scholars to do what they do best by dedicating themselves more fully to their research,” said NDSU vice president for research Colleen Fitzgerald. “The RCA team saw philanthropy as a tool to raise funds for the TRLP, which is designed to provide resources to buy out a portion of their non-research obligations, thus giving them the time and space to focus on their research. It is a key initiative to foster R1 culture at NDSU because program supports like this are standard at many top research universities.”
The TLRP program was launched in Fall 2024 with three key goals: To build research leadership pathways for NDSU faculty to succeed in securing and running large, funded center-level research initiatives, to identify viable cross-campus initiatives that position campus resources and faculty funding to be leveraged where there is alignment with existing federal opportunities records, and to increase NDSU’s success with externally funded awards at the level of $1M and above. Funding for the program comes from NDSU Giving Day fundraising, and RCA leveraged state funds for research competitiveness.
The competition was open to tenured faculty at NDSU, required a record as lead principal investigator on securing funding from the targeted agency, and required a nomination letter of support from the Dean of the College for that faculty member. Steffen Leads CoBRE Team’s Focus on Obesity, Chronic Diseases Steffen is an NDSU graduate (BS, PharmD, and Ph.D.) and has been a professor of pharmaceutical sciences at NDSU since 2018.
The TRLP award will help her facilitate the generation of a National Institutes of Health Center of Biomedical Research Phase I submission from NDSU. The NIH’s stated goals about the CoBRE program include supporting the creation of cutting-edge biomedical and behavioral research centers to build expertise, strengthening infrastructure, and developing a competitive pool of investigators for independent funding.
“NDSU researchers aim to submit a highly-responsive CoBRE proposal to meet these goals and plan to target areas of high NIH-research priority, obesity and related chronic diseases,” Steffen said. “This award will allow us to focus on identifying a group of talented investigators to be part of this application, along with establishing plans to build a novel on-campus core facility capable of robust microbiome and metabolomic research.”
Steffen added that the plan is to develop core biostatistics, bioinformatics, and clinical assessment facilities. She said her research team offers a pilot project opportunity for interested and eligible investigators to serve as research project leaders. With TRLP funding, NDSU aims to build new research capacity on campus to support investigators within and beyond the CoBRE award and strengthen collaborations with clinical partners to enhance the university’s biomedical research capabilities.
“The CoBRE's focus on obesity and related chronic diseases is highly relevant to the health of North Dakotans and is in step with the land-grant mission of NDSU,” Steffen said. “Nationally and in North Dakota, approximately three-fourths of adults meet criteria for overweight or obesity, which confers risk for significant morbidity through numerous associated diseases, including early mortality,” Steffen said. “The goal of this CoBRE will be the identification of mechanistic targets that can lead toward improved ability to prevent disease and enhance treatment efficacy. Ultimately, we expect the TRLP award to enhance our ability to submit a competitive CoBRE proposal which will build infrastructure, provide new opportunities and mentoring to biomedical research faculty, and ultimately create a critical mass of investigators dedicated to improving the health and well-being of North Dakotans through cutting-edge research on obesity and chronic disease prevention and treatment.”
“Securing a NIH COBRE would be a significant success for the NDSU research enterprise, as these awards would potentially support junior faculty in the four colleges where researchers focus on biomedical topics. We are excited to support Dr. Steffen’s leadership in this endeavor,” Fitzgerald said.
Steinbach has been at NDSU since 2022 and is the director of the Central for Agricultural Policy and Trade Studies. He said that his project, impacted by the TRLP award, will aim to build a national platform for innovation in transforming part of oilseeds into a low-carbon economy.
“Receiving this award is an exciting milestone that recognizes both the urgency and potential of our work,” Steinbach said. “It’s a vote of confidence in North Dakota State University’s role as a national leader in agricultural innovation. This project brings together an incredible interdisciplinary team and positions North Dakota at the forefront of efforts to build a more sustainable and economically resilient agricultural future. It allows us to address a real-world challenge, integrating low-carbon oilseeds into fuel markets, with scientifically rigorous solutions grounded in the needs of North Dakota farmers and rural communities.”
Steinbach’s works to create new economic opportunities for North Dakota farmers by promoting oilseeds like camelina and safflower, which improve soil health and fit into current crop rotations. His research team is building a transparent system to track environmental benefits using satellite data, AI, and digital tools while analyzing financial models and carbon market incentives to support adoption.
NDSU leads the project and brings experts from multiple universities together to develop practical, science-backed solutions for fair farmer compensation. Steinbach is collaborating with NDSU faculty Marisol Berti, Ph.D., Matt Gammans, Ph.D.; Caiwen Ding, Ph.D., of the University of Minnesota and Zhe Zhu, Ph.D., at the University of Connecticut.
“The collaboration led by Dr. Steinbach continues to grow NDSU’s national prominence in convergence and transdisciplinary research addressing major challenges – big ideas – relevant to agriculture and food security. It is an incredibly timely project, sure to be impactful for the state and beyond,” Fitzgerald said.
“It’s a dream team, combining agronomy, AI, remote sensing, and agricultural economics expertise to deliver cutting-edge and practical solutions,” Steinbach said. “The benefits for North Dakotans are clear: new crop options, better market access, and a leadership role in shaping the future of clean energy agriculture.”
“Large-scale research initiatives, like those proposed by Dr. Steffen and Dr. Steinbach, are a core part of the culture of innovation and impact at R1 universities,” Fitzgerald said. “These two projects funded by the Office of Research and Creative Activity are essential to elevating NDSU’s research funding and strategic impact in North Dakota and nationally.”
