Funding News - Applications for Bioengineering Research Partnerships Sought

The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), the National Cancer Institute (NCI), the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR), the National Eye Institute (NEI), the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), the National Institute on Aging (NIA), the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR), the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR), and the National Library of Medicine (NLM) invite applications for grants to support bioengineering research partnerships (BRPs).

A BRP is a multidisciplinary research team that applies an integrative, systems approach to develop knowledge and methods to prevent, detect, diagnose, and treat disease, and to understand health and behavior. The partnership must include bioengineering expertise in combination with basic and/or clinical investigators. The field of bioengineering brings a perspective that is valuable for many of today’s biological problems. It integrates principles from a diversity of fields—crossing the boundaries of academia, science, medicine, and industry. The creativity of interdisciplinary teams is resulting in new basic understanding, novel products, and innovative technologies.

Examples of potential research areas include: biomechanics; bioprocessing; bioelectrics, ion channels, and organ function; clinical medicine, therapeutics, and drug delivery; combinatorial approaches to chemistry, materials, genes, and therapeutics; functional genomics including microarray technology, integrated systems, and analysis tools; imaging; nanotechnology; informatics and computational methods; medical implants, biomembranes, sensors, and devices; complex biological systems; organ culture systems and organogenesis; rehabilitation and prostheses; cell and tissue engineering and biomaterials; tissue regeneration; integrative physiology; and drug bioavailability.

For more information, potential applicants should contact Dr. William Heetderks, Repair and Plasticity Cluster, NINDS, Neuroscience Center, 6001 Executive Boulevard, Room 2207, Bethesda, MD 20892; telephone: (301) 496-1447; fax: (301) 402-1501; e-mail: heet@nih.gov.