Soviets Bump Up Against NIH Ceiling
The Fogarty International Center's exchange program with the Soviet Union is oversubscribed for the first time in its 18-year history. "In the past, we didn't have a ceiling on the program because we could always count on the Soviets to limit themselves," says Gray Handley, director of international coordination and liaison for the NIH-based exchanges. But perestroika has increased demand for the short-term visits, in which the Soviets pay for the flight over, and NIH finances in-country costs for the visiting Soviet scientists. The program is still quite small--a total of 30 person-months for this year--but Handley says that NIH would be happy to expand it if given additional funds. The Fogarty center also supports exchanges with almost all of the Eastern European countries, at a total annual cost of $350,000. In addition, it runs a visiting scientist program for researchers wishing to come...