Shelley Lusetti, New Mexico State University professor and department head of chemistry and biochemistry, is the principal investigator of the New Mexico IDeA Networks of Biomedical Research Excellence (NM-INBRE). This year, Lusetti was elected vice president of the National Association of IDeA Principal Investigators (NAIPI).
NM-INBRE’s legacy at NMSU began in 2001. Its mission is focused in three areas: building access to infrastructure at New Mexico universities; building up individual faculties’ research programs; and training students. Lusetti has been its principal investigator for the last 10 years. In 2024, NM-INBRE received a five-year, $19.9 million grant from the National Institutes of Health. Working with 10 colleges statewide plus the National Center for Genome Resources and two pueblos, Lusetti has been expanding the organization’s impact.
“I would describe the mission as building research infrastructure in the state of New Mexico,” Lusetti said. “We're trying to increase the competitiveness of the whole state with respect to federal research funding. We are looking to support any kind of project that provides the skills that would be needed to do biomedical research. We’ve also evolved into community-based participatory research.”
Lusetti’s election is a first for NMSU and promotes national recognition for the university. NAIPI serves as the collective voice and leadership body for NIH-funded IDeA programs. The nationwide network facilitates communication, fosters collaboration, develops best practices and promotes the growth of biomedical research in 23 states and Puerto Rico.
“There are about 200 PIs who belong to NAIPI, an organization developed to represent these programs and communicate not only with the NIH, but also to communicate and disseminate information among the programs and other agencies,” Lusetti said. “This organization has an office in Washington, D.C. and is expected to be front and center regarding the national platform for these programs. We have a voice, a very strong voice.”
Lusetti’s election in 2026 begins a 12-year commitment. She will serve the next four years in the vice president position before assuming the president’s position for four years, followed by an additional four years of service as past president. She will attend national meetings with foundations and interact with agencies at the national level.
“They come to us before there are policy changes or when they want to make changes or find new ways that they can modify programs to benefit rural communities,” Lusetti said.
Between 2001 and 2024, NM-INBRE received $78,065,462 in NIH awards. In that time, the program impacted the careers of 1,351 students and 117 researchers at universities across New Mexico. Of those groups, 20% were NMSU students and 30% were NMSU researchers.
“I am completely committed to INBRE, and I will be the program director until I retire,” Lusetti said. “I think that we need to increase our training for data science and artificial intelligence and how that affects our research. That’s the next place that we need to really expand. We also want to include Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine, and we’re looking to find ways to solidify that relationship. It can be beneficial for community health while ensuring Burrell students develop a good research background and NMSU students can learn various aspects of osteopathic medicine. That’s a place we want to grow.”
An upcoming meeting Lusetti will attend in June is expected to gather 1,300 to 1,400 people in Washington, D.C. Armed with more than 20 years’ success of NM-INBRE and her new leadership role in NAIPI, she plans to promote the critical impact of these programs on a national level and demonstrate the value of expanding them to all 50 states.
“One thing that I'm particularly proud of is how few of these leadership roles there are in the country and that I was elected to one of them was pretty amazing,” Lusetti said. “That was pretty humbling, and it says a lot when your colleagues across the country all come together and say ‘We want you in that position.’”
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CUTLINE: Shelley Lusetti, New Mexico State University professor and department head of chemistry and biochemistry and principal investigator of the New Mexico IDeA Networks of Biomedical Research Excellence (NM-INBRE) was elected vice president of the National Association of IDeA Principal Investigators (NAIPI).
