NIH Awards Nearly $21 Million to Fund Cutting-Edge
Research Equipment
The National Center for Research Resources (NCRR), a part of the
National Institutes of Health (NIH), announced today it will provide
$20.65 million for 14 High-End Instrumentation (HEI) grants that
will fund cutting-edge equipment required to advance biomedical
research. Awarded to research institutions around the country,
the one-time grants support the purchase of sophisticated instruments
costing more than $750,000.
“These high-performance imaging instruments and other advanced
technologies enable both basic discoveries that shed light on the
underlying causes of disease and the development of novel therapies
to treat them,” said Barbara Alving, M.D., NCRR Director. “The
value of this investment in advanced equipment is greatly leveraged
because each of these rare tools is used by a number of investigators,
advancing a broad range of research projects.”
The 14 awards in this round of funding will enable the purchase
of a variety of sophisticated instrumentation at institutions nationwide.
For example, Nashville’s Vanderbilt University will acquire a 7
Tesla human magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and spectroscopy system,
which provides the highest magnetic imaging available for humans
and is one of only several such instruments in the country. With
its award, the University of Texas Health Sciences Center in San
Antonio will obtain a high-field 9.4 Tesla MRI scanner capable
of performing such demanding studies as functional brain and cardiac
imaging in a variety of animal species.
Meanwhile, the purchase of several 3 Tesla MRI scanners will be
used to develop minimally invasive therapies at Brigham and Women’s
Hospital in Boston; and for psychiatric applications at the Nathan
S. Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research in Orangeburg, N.Y.
In addition, nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometers will be supported
to probe intermolecular interactions at Burnham Institute for Medical
Research in La Jolla, Calif.; and to research protein structure,
function, and folding at the University of Connecticut School of
Medicine and Dentistry in Farmington. Three high-performance, hybrid
linear ion trap-Fourier transform mass spectrometers will be funded.
One will be located at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md.,
to benefit researchers investigating ischemia and hypoxia, among
other projects; another at the University of Arizona at Tucson
will enable structural studies of proteins; and the third at the
University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center will
facilitate cancer research and other studies. Also, a pulsed electron
paramagnetic resonance/X-band electron nuclear double resonance
spectrometer will be purchased by the University of Washington
in Seattle, to study the function of enzymes, structural proteins,
and proteins at DNA and RNA interfaces.
Another award will support the University of California, San Diego,
in its purchase of a high-performance, intermediate voltage transmission
electron microscope to enable 3-D imaging of sections of cells
and biological tissues. Also funded is a confocal imaging system
at the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute in Baltimore,
to enable the study of calcium signaling in living cells, as well
as investigations involving neuronal and brain slice imaging.
At the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health
in Madison, positron emission tomography tracer development and
production equipment will be purchased to facilitate research involving
cancer, neuroscience, cardiovascular, and regenerative medicine.
Finally, new state-of-the-art DNA sequencing instrumentation will
be acquired by Yale University in New Haven, Conn., to assist investigations
involving epilepsy, psychiatric disorders, autism, cardiovascular
disorders, and cancer.
For more details on the High-End Awards, please visit: http://www.ncrr.nih.gov/biomedical_technology/high-end_instrumentation/hei_awards_12june2007.asp.
In order to qualify for a HEI award, institutions must identify
three or more NIH-funded investigators whose research requires
the requested instrument. Matching funds are not required for these
grants, which provide a maximum of $2 million each. However, institutions
are expected to provide an appropriate level of support for associated
infrastructure, such as building alterations or renovations, technical
personnel, and post-award service contracts for instrument maintenance
and operation.
More information about the High-End Instrumentation program, including
application guidelines, is available at: http://www.ncrr.nih.gov/biomedical%5Ftechnology/high%2Dend%5Finstrumentation/.
NCRR provides laboratory scientists and clinical researchers with
the environments and tools they need to understand, detect, treat,
and prevent a wide range of diseases. Central to this effort, NCRR
leads the Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) program — a
national consortium of academic health centers that will transform
the conduct of clinical and translational research to ensure that
biomedical discoveries are rapidly translated into prevention strategies
and clinical treatments for rare and common diseases. With NCRR
support, scientists make biomedical discoveries, translate these
findings to animal-based studies, and then apply them to patient-oriented
research. Through the CTSA consortium and other collaborations
and networks, NCRR connects researchers with one another, and with
patients and communities across the nation. These connections bring
together innovative research teams and the power of shared resources,
multiplying the opportunities to improve human health. For more
information, visit www.ncrr.nih.gov.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) — The Nation's
Medical Research Agency — includes 27 Institutes and
Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services. It is the primary federal agency for conducting
and supporting basic, clinical and translational medical research,
and it investigates the causes, treatments, and cures for both
common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and
its programs, visit www.nih.gov.
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