PROVIDENCE — Although not its largest ever, Roger Williams Medical Center was recently awarded an $11.8-million federal grant.

The National Institutes of Health gave the five-year award so the center could continue Dr. Vincent Falanga’s study on tissue repair and the role of adult stem cells during the healing process of stubborn wounds. In 2003, the NIH gave the center its largest grant, $13.3 million, for bone marrow stem cell research. The $11.8 million is the second highest.

“This NIH award recognizes the value of this important research conducted by [Falanga] and his colleagues,” center president and CEO Kenneth H. Belcher said in a news release today. “The environment for grants of this nature has grown increasingly competitive and I thank the NIH for helping advance research that has the potential to better the lives of people not only in our region, but around the world.”

The center says the research is particularly important to Rhode Island, which has one of the old-est average populations in the country. The state is home to more than 190,000 people age 60 and older, which represents 18 percent of Rhode Island’s population. The state Department of Elderly Affairs’ 2003 statistics also say Rhode Island is sixth in the nation in this category.

Diabetes, poor arterial circulation and strokes can all lead to chronic ulcers and wounds. Veterans returning from overseas wars are also coming home with major wounds that are difficult to stabilize and slow to heal, the news release states.

The news release says Falanga, who is chairman of the center’s department of dermatology and skin surgery, hopes his research will “determine new ways to target stem cells so they travel most efficiently to the wounds and begin the healing process.”

apina@projo.com