INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (Indiana News Service): A statewide research partnership is getting a financial boost to continue its work to improve the health of Hoosiers.

The National Institutes of Health is awarding 33 million dollars to the Indiana Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute, a collaboration between Purdue University, Indiana University and the University of Notre Dame.

Deputy director of the institute Connie Weaver says Indiana is one of the unhealthiest states in the country, and their research work aims to change that:

“We are physically inactive, we don’t eat well, we smoke too much, we have high incidences of diseases that are affected by lifestyles like obesity and diabetes and cardiovascular disease.”

This is the third five-year grant Indiana CTSI has received, and since its formation in 2008 Weaver says it has uncovered dangerous lead levels in South Bend and researched ways to reduce infant mortality in central Indiana.