I am writing to set the record straight. In a letter in the Nov. 13, 1995, issue of The Scientist [page 13], Paul K. Strudler, a National Institutes of Health grants administrator, refers to my article entitled "How Federal Funding Mechanisms Stifle Basic Biomedical Research (The Scientist, Aug. 21, 1995, page 10) as evidence that I believe that NIH study sections are not reviewing basic science applications adequately. In fact, I wrote that new innovative research-that is, R01s -- whether in

One of the few things that most Americans still believe is that we have the best biomedical research system in the world and that the National Institutes of Health is its indispensable heart. NIH has a dual function: to support basic research in relevant sciences and to support research designed to apply scientific data equitably to improve the health of all United States residents. These two functions are fundamentally different. Basic biomedical research can be, and always should be, as rigo