Funding Briefs

The National Stroke Association is launching a new program called Career Development Fellowships for Young Investigators in hopes of increasing the number of clinical and basic scientists committed to stroke research for the long term. Investigators who are funded for projects concerning either the causes of stroke or the rehabilitation of stroke victims, are to pursue their research under the auspices of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Institute for Stroke Research, an NSA affiliate headquartered in White Plains, N.Y. The deadline for applications is June 1, a date appropriately coinciding with the close of the first-ever National Stroke Awareness Month, May 1989. Awards will be announced September 1. For 1990, deadlines will be set earlier so that awards can be made at the beginning of the summer. “There isn’t a lot of knowledge right now about treating stroke,” according to the association’s executive director Jim Lannan. This situation is sorely in need of correction, he observes, since “stroke is the number one cause of adult disability and the third most common cause of death.” (Carolyn Burkhardt, 303-762-9922) Fetal Research Money Reconsidered For nearly a decade now, abortion politics have stalemated federal funding for research involving the human pre-embryo and fetus. Developments currently are afoot, however, that are likely to reopen dialogue on the ethical issues that could eventually break apart the research logjam. These prospects have been heralded by the rechartering of the Department of Health and Human Services’ Ethical Advisory Board, which was disbanded eight years ago—a rechartering that could allow scientists to circumvent a frustrating procedural trap. That is, federal regulations prohibit federal funding of research involving the pre-embryo or fetus unless the advisory board waives the restriction—which has been impossible for the past eight years of the advisory board’s nonexistence. Now, researchers can once again anticipate at least the theoretical possibility that the research restrictions will be waived. In a related development, a newly authorized congressional body—the Biomedical Ethics Board, chaired by Rep. Bill Gradison (R.- Ohio) and Sen. Al Gore (D. - Tenn.)—is chartered with reporting on the ethics of waiving restrictions on human fetal research. Although this new congressional board may move slowly due to uncertainties in its funding, its deliberations, along with the resurrection of HHS’s advisory board, could eventually lead to new research funding opportunities for biomedical researchers focusing on pre-embryo and fetal research. (Claire Pouncey, CBEB, Hart Senate Office Building, Room 440B, Washington, D.C. 20501) USDA Starts Ozone Depletion Grants The Department of Agriculture is looking for a few good researchers to track ultraviolet light’s effect on plant life. USDA has done some in-house studies in this area through its Forest Service and Agricultural Research Service, but this is the first year the Competitive Research Grants Office has been funded—with $3.7 million—to make grants in this area. (Machi Dilworth, Program Manager, USDA Competitive Research Grants Office 202-475-4871) Mixing And Matching Visiting Scientists The Alfred R Sloan Foundation of New York, known for its 35-year-old research fellowship program, just granted $300,000 to Harvard University to support its launching, in partnership with MIT, of an unusual visiting scientists program. The two New England schools are to invite physicists and mathematicians from other universities to visit the Harvard and MIT campuses. Most unusual is that the invited physicists will meet with mathematicians, and the mathematicians will be dropping in on Harvard and MIT physicists. Harvard math chairman Arthur Jaffee has not disclosed the guest list but says the visitors will be top scientists, visiting for a week to a couple of months. The Sloan Foundation’s motive in funding the fellowship program was described as an interest in promoting cross-field collaboration. (Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, 212-582-0450)

Funding Briefs

The Scientist Staff

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