Local Initiative for Excellence
It is estimated that 26 percent of Americans ages 18 and older, about one in four adults, suffer from a diagnosable mental illness in any given year and many of these are difficult to treat and many mental illnesses go undiagnosed.
Since 2014
Who We Are
George J. Wile established the Local Initiative for Excellence (L.I.F.E.) Foundation in 2014 with a mission to support research to achieve better health outcomes for patients with brain and neurodegenerative disease. There are two ways that the L.I.F.E. Foundation supports this mission:
Research Grants
A Collegiate Fellowship Program partnering with the Northern Kentucky University College of Informatics.
Research Grants
L.I.F.E provides grants to support innovative research.
Grant Recipients
.Learn more about the cutting-edge research being undertaken by Local Initiative for Excellence grant recipients in the field of brain science
Fellowships
Two NKU students are awarded four-year scholarships every year.
Fellowship Recipients
Discover the inspiring stories of our past fellowship recipients and their work at Northern Kentucky University.
Grants
Research Grants
Grant opportunities are available for all UC faculty with 80% or greater FTE, including those based at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, as well as outside researchers in non-profit organizations with novel approaches, are eligible to apply for funding. Grant applicants will need to:
Submit a one page Letter of Intent
Submit a NIH Biographical sketch
Scholarships
WILE L.I.F.E. FELLOWS
L.I.F.E. provides scholarships to students in partnership with Northern Kentucky
University’s (NKU) College of Informatics who intend to go into a career in the field
of brain research
Two NKU students are awarded four-year scholarships every year.
Applicants must declare their intent to pursue a PhD in a field of study in computational biomedical sciences.
Have a question?
Do you need help with the grant process or want more information about the scholarships?
Why L.I.F.E.
It’s the “who-knows-what-else” that drove George Wile. Wile, who founded precision contract manufacturer Planet Products Corporation in 1947 and served as the company’s president until 1999, established the Local Initiative for Excellence (L.I.F.E.) Foundation in 2014 with treasurer Carter Randolph and secretary Patty Brockman after Wile survived a battle with leukemia. L.I.F.E.’s stated mission is to “support research to achieve better health outcomes for patients with brain and neurodegenerative disease”; in practice this involves supporting researchers who are actively trying to make who-knows-what-else a reality.