Kansas City, Mo. ? A task force from the University of Missouri-Kansas City has recommended that the university strive to become a leading life science research institution.

The task force said UMKC should spend about $160 million more over the next decade to achieve that goal. The added funding would allow the university to hire an additional 40 to 50 research scientists who receive funding from the National Institutes of Health, which would more than double the current number receiving such funding at the school. The money also would pay for assistants who would work with scientists.

The proposal, however, faces funding hurdles with the state, which is facing budget cuts, and with local foundations, which are cutting grants in the wake of investment losses.