New biodefense research grants allocated

A total of $350 million in grants over the next 5 years from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) will help fund eight new Regional Centers of Excellence (RCEs) for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases Research.The aim is to establish multidisciplinary centers for research into both bioterrorism agents and naturally occurring infectious diseases, such as severe acute respiratory syndrome, West Nile virus, and drug-resistant pathogens.Because of the urgent demand for therapies, vaccines, diagnostics, and other tools for use against such agents, instead of the conventional funding model NIH employs—in which applications require a supporting body of preliminary data—decisions regarding these new grants rely more on the ideas and track records of applicants. "We really wanted to encourage innovation, we wanted to encourage people to move into the field of biodefense research. We've set up a structure to do that," said senior program officer Rona Hirschberg of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), the NIH branch that awarded the money. "It really is a different beast," said University of Madison–Wisconsin chair of medical microbiology and immunology Rodney Welch, who will receive funds under the program. "It's certainly liberating… We're very happy to get it and do the work. For a scientist, and I'm midcareer, it's great to have the opportunity to stretch my wings in some new areas."And the application process was challenging, said Welch, "Producing these proposals had much tighter time constraints than ever before. Now I've got to run out and hire somebody quickly."Each RCE comprises a lead institution and anywhere from six to 20 other affiliated institutions in the same geographical region. The eight lead institutions are Duke University, Harvard Medical School, the University of Chicago, the University of Maryland at Baltimore, the University of Texas Medical Branch, the University of Washington at Seattle, Washington University in St. Louis, and the New York State Department of Health.In addition, NIAID will give grants to the University of Iowa and the University of Minnesota–Twin Cities to help them develop further, with a view to becoming fully fledged centers. Hirschberg also indicated new partnerships with institutions and industry should spring up as time goes on "to follow the research where it leads."Research these centers will conduct includes:• Developing new approaches to blocking the action of anthrax, botulinum, and cholera toxins• Developing new vaccines against anthrax, plague, tularemia, smallpox, and Ebola • Developing new antibiotics and other therapeutic strategies• Studying bacterial and viral disease processes• Designing new advanced diagnostic approaches for biodefense and for emerging diseases• Conducting immunological studies of diseases caused by potential agents of bioterrorism• Developing computational and genomic approaches to combating disease agents• Creating new immunization strategies and delivery systemsThis $350 million represents a further boost for bioterrorism-related research. Congress gave NIH $1.7 billion for bioterrorism-related research and development for the 2003 fiscal year, compared with $275 million in the 2002 fiscal year and $50 million in 2001. Most of these funds go to NIAID, whose total budget will receive a boost of nearly 60% to $4.0 billion.Hirschberg noted an NIH grant usually is for one lead investigator and any junior scientists, but said these new grants will emphasize collaborations. "We're going to see a lot of interdisciplinary work, the larger scale projects that require a bigger team approach to get done," Hirschberg said. "We need to start with basic research. But that has to be interfaced with more translational studies, even early clinical trials. You need many people to focus on the same problem."Of course, some institutions were disappointed not to receive funding. "We thought we put together a good proposal, had wonderful scientists. NIH was looking for something in addition to what we proposed," said University of California at Davis associate vice chancellor for research administration Lynne Chronister. "Obviously, we're very pleased with the other centers. We wish we were part of the list."In addition to these new grants, NIH will award up to $375 million later this month for Biosafety Level 4 (BSL-4) laboratories. Chronister hopes that her university still has a chance of winning a biocontainment lab grant even though it did not win one of the new RCE awards.

New biodefense research grants allocated

NIH awards $350 million for biodefense and emerging diseases research

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