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and emerging diseases research
| By Charles Q Choi
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
| By Charles Q Choi
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
