Twenty-one research teams received a total of $10 million in new grants and contracts for the coming year at WSU’s newly opened Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine in Spokane.

The new money will fund research on gene mutations linked to colon cancer, the relationship between sleep disturbance and autism, and how the neurological system affects the immune system, said Christina VerHeul, the college’s director of communications and marketing.

“The research grant will help to increase the expertise in health sciences in the Spokane area,” VerHeul wrote in an email.

Halfway into the 2018 fiscal year, the College of Medicine has brought in $2.7 million more than in 2017 and $3.9 million more than in 2016.

The college also received $10 million to fund its inaugural class of 120 students, all of which are Washingtonians.

Founded in 2015, the college works alongside the University of Washington and Gonzaga University’s medical schools in Spokane. According to its website, the college should improve access to physician care in Eastern Washington’s rural communities. Students gain clinical experience at hospitals in Spokane.