The Hartwell Foundation has chosen the University of Virginia as the site for its 2013 Annual Meeting of Biomedical Research. Researchers from all over the country whose research has been funded by the Foundation will descend on Charlottesville to present their projects.

"This is very exciting for our innovation ecosystem, because the Hartwell Investigators are among the most pioneering and creative biomedical researchers in the world. This networking event often leads to new collaborations and breakthroughs in children's health," said Thomas C. Skalak, U.Va. vice president for research.

The Foundation additionally named U.Va. as the Top Ten Center for Biomedical Research. Two researches, Silvia Salinas Blemker and Christopher Deppmann, have received the 2011 Hartwell Individual Biomedical Research Award, a $100,000, three-year award to support the investigators' research. As a top center, U.Va. will hold a competition to choose four faculty nominees whose early stage start-up in cutting edge biomedical research, has not received substancial funding.

Since 2007, The Hartwell Foundation has awarded a total of $2 million to U.Va. researchers trying to solve children's health issues such as cleft palate; metabolic disorders and obesity; low-cost prevention and treatment of neonatal bowel disease; ventilator-associated pneumonia; and targeted delivery of chemotherapy in brain tumors.

"We continue to place a high priority on funding early-stage and innovative biomedical research, particularly when it may lead to advancements in children's health," said U.Va. President Teresa A. Sullivan.