Board alignment enables collaboration, unified strategy
To strengthen the One KU research enterprise, the university recently unified the boards of the KU Center for Research (KUCR) and the KU Medical Center Research Institute (KUMC RI) — bringing both organizations under the same leadership for the first time.
The Center for Research and the Research Institute are nonprofit foundations that support KU research and clinical trials, operating under the administrative jurisdiction of the Office of Research on the Lawrence campus and Research Administration at the Medical Center. Aligned membership ensures decisions about research strategy, finances and governance are made collaboratively and with a unified view of KU’s research priorities.
Bringing the boards into alignment reduces duplication, improves coordination and creates a clearer path for consistent decision‑making. This matters for the KU research community because it will help streamline processes and enable KU to invest its research resources more strategically — ultimately making it easier for researchers to focus on discovery, innovation and impact.