This spring the National Science Board agreed to spend up to $32 million over the next five years to create engineering centers at the University of Colorado and UCLA, bringing the total to 13 since the program was begun in 1985. It announced that Duke University's proposal for a center on emerging cardiovascular technologies would be next—if NIH agreed to put up at least one-third of the $14 million in federal funds being requested.
"President Reagan's 'Quest for Excellence' program calls on all federal agencies to become involved in various types of science and technology centers," said Mary Clutter, senior science adviser at NSF, in explaining why the board solicited NIH participation. "In addition, our charter says that we won't support clinically related, or disease-related, research. Although the Duke proposal is really about biomedical engineering," she said, "their application acknowledges that the impact of the research will be felt on ...
