NIH doles out $438M for daring research

The NIH is opening its purse to fund $438 million in new research projects that have the potential to make groundbreaking progress against some of the world's toughest medical challenges. Dr. Alan Krensky, director of the NIH office of portfolio analysis and strategic initiatives, told the Boston Globe that they were bankrolling "knock-your-socks-off" science projects. Nine teams will each get $21 million to $25 million to tackle such projects as growing new heart valves and revolutionizing the drug discovery process with swift advancements in genomics. NIH is shucking its standard operating procedure of offering individual researchers six-figure grants, budgeting a small portion of its money for these big-picture research projects that could offer major advancements in medicine. The new strategy is being developed at a time of growing concern that the NIH is not able to fund all the projects deserving of federal support.

- check out the report from The Boston Globe

ALSO: A team of researchers at the University of California, Davis, School of Medicine and the M.I.N.D. Institute, in collaboration with four allied institutions, has been awarded a five-year, $21.8 million Interdisciplinary Research Consortium grant from the National Institutes of Heath, the largest single federal award to date in support of research related to the Fragile X (FMR1) gene. Release

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