Kansas University Medical Center researchers received $21 million in grants from the National Institutes of Health.

The funds, announced Tuesday, came through the National Center for Research Resources program.

They are designed to expand research efforts in states that lag behind others in federal research funding.

Two Center of Biomedical Research Excellence, or COBRE, programs at KU Medical Center received the support.

The Center for Novel Approaches for Control of Microbial Pathogens received $11 million.

The center, which focuses on ways of controlling disease-causing microbes, is directed by Opendra Narayan, professor and chairman of microbiology, molecular genetics and immunology.

Curtis Klaassen, distinguished professor and chairman of pharmacology, toxicology and therapeutics, received $10.3 million for the start of a new COBRE program. The center will focus on nuclear receptors and their role in liver health and disease.

“It’s a way of growing and getting a strong research program at universities,” Klaassen said of the COBRE program. “The NIH budget is not growing. It’s extremely, extremely competitive. While it’s difficult for all researchers, it’s especially for the people who are just getting started.”

Klaassen’s team includes five new faculty members who will be mentored and trained in grant writing and teaching. After a few years, the new researchers are expected to be able to compete for new sources of funding.

Klaassen said he’s working with promising recent hires from universities such as Michigan State, Baylor and Yale.

“This is really going to help these new investigators to get started,” he said.

The team includes Xiaobo Zhong, an assistant professor specializing in pharmacogenomics who conducted his post-doctoral work at Yale. The grant comes at the perfect time to assist him in his research, Zhong said.

“It’s a big help for all of us,” he said.

The National Center for Research Resources will disburse $117.3 million to programs in Louisiana, Kansas, Mississippi, Vermont, New Hampshire, New Mexico, South Carolina, Wyoming and West Virginia.