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Summary of the Open Session of the National Advisory General Medical Sciences Council Meeting -- September 12, 2002
Until the official minutes of the September 12-13, 2002 meeting of the National Advisory General Medical Sciences Council (NAGMSC) are posted on this Web site, we are providing this summary of the major topics covered during the Council's open session on September 12.
Updates on the Glue Grants
Dr. James Deatherage reported that in its first year, the Cell Migration Consortium (CMC) glue grant made significant progress on the specific aims of all its scientific components. Some important results are already in hand. Administratively, the CMC has organized itself into a cohesive unit, hired staff, set up internal and external Web sites (http://www.cellmigration.org/) and videoconferencing, held annual meetings of the participants and the advisory committee, established internal communications, developed new interactions, and developed scientific milestones for its second year of funding. Two new participating investigators are being added to the project.
Dr. Pamela Marino reviewed the progress made to date by the Consortium for Functional Glycomics glue grant, which seeks to define the paradigms by which carbohydrate-binding proteins function in cellular communication. She provided a brief overview of the consortium; described progress made by each core laboratory on the first-year milestones; summarized the meetings held and advisory committee recommendations; and discussed second-year milestones, proposed changes, and supplements, including one related to bioinformatics. Additional information on the consortium's organization, goals, databases, members, progress, and reagents can be found at http://glycomics.scripps.edu/index.html.
Dr. Scott Somers reported that the glue grant on Inflammation and the Host Response to Injury is nearing the end of its first funding year and is making satisfactory progress on all of its stated goals. Given that the effort involves 20 different institutions and many individuals, the logistics for establishing working relationships and communications were daunting, but consensus agreements have been established on all aspects of the project. In particular, the Patient-Oriented Research Core agreed on entry criteria and standard treatment protocols to cover the severe injury patients to be studied. Both the Genomics and Protein Analysis and Cell Biology Cores have been very interactive in establishing optimal methods for the handling and analysis of patient samples collected at multiple trauma centers. The Genomics Core has also performed a number of experiments to optimize future gene expression studies on many different samples performed over a several-year time period. The Computational Analysis and Modeling Core has been active in performing statistical interpretation of experiments and in providing advice to the other cores concerning study design and database production. Finally, the Information Dissemination and Data Collection Core, which is charged with all of the bioinformatics aspects of the project, spent time in close communication with the other cores concerning their specific needs and will soon deliver testable products.
Dr. Rochelle Long summarized progress during the second year of funding of the glue grant entitled The Alliance for Cellular Signaling (AfCS). The Alliance, which involves over 50 researchers, is a large-scale effort to build a quantitative model of cellular signaling in two primary cell types, cardiac myocytes and B lymphocytes. Dr. Long reviewed the progress of the Alliance for each of the seven core laboratories by project milestones and achievements. The Alliance Web site, http://www.afcs.org, lists the proteins and molecules being studied, displays the data accrued to date, provides current literature reviews appearing as “molecule pages,” and links to a joint effort with the journal Nature called the Signaling Gateway. Dr. Long stated that the effort is well under way and that the AfCS’ External Advisory Committee commended it for accomplishments in developing the infrastructure needed to support this research endeavor. She also noted that all data, and the conditions under which they were collected, are posted on the public Web site immediately after validation and are intended for use by the entire scientific community in followup experiments.
Contact: Dr. James Deatherage, deatherj@nigms.nih.gov, 301-594-3828; Dr. Pamela Marino, marinop@nigms.nih.gov, 301-594-1832; Dr. Scott Somers, somerss@nigms.nih.gov, 301-594-5560; Dr. Rochelle Long, longr@nigms.nih.gov, 301-594-1826 back to top
Renewal Plans for the Pharmacogenetics Research Network
Dr. Rochelle Long presented the background, timing, and dollar levels of support for the awards made for the Pharmacogenetics Research Network and Knowledge Base (see http://www.nigms.nih.gov/pharmacogenetics). NIGMS plans to bring these awards into timing synchrony and to issue a renewal of the original request for applications (RFA GM-99-004, http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-GM-99-004.html) for funding in FY 2005. It is anticipated that the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; National Cancer Institute; National Human Genome Research Institute; National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences; and National Library of Medicine will also support this endeavor, and some other NIH institutes have indicated potential interest as well. This will continue to be a broadly based effort into understanding the fundamental principles underlying pharmacogenetics, with an emphasis on common methodological approaches and specific research problems with broad applicability. The network will also support building a publicly accessible database (PharmGKB) for all researchers to deposit and share pharmacogenetics data relating phenotype to genotype.
Contact: Dr. Rochelle Long, longr@nigms.nih.gov, 301-594-1826 back to top
Update on Activities at Synchrotrons
NIGMS is committed to fostering efficient, state-of-the-art facilities at synchrotrons for the use of its grantees and the structural biology community as a whole. The Institute is partnering with the National Cancer Institute to develop a sector consisting of one bending magnet and two undulator beamlines at the Advanced Photon Source, located at Argonne National Laboratory. In addition, NIGMS is providing supplemental support for equipment and personnel to five existing synchrotron facilities to enhance access for macromolecular crystallography. Dr. Charles Edmonds gave an update on progress in both of these activities and discussed their present and likely future impact.
Contact: Dr. Charles Edmonds, edmondsc@nigms.nih.gov, 301-594-4428 back to top
Meeting Report: What IS Training in the Pharmacological Sciences?
On August 24-25, 2002, more than 150 scientists met to discuss the question, "what IS training in the pharmacological sciences?" The meeting was organized to address a number of concerns regarding the NIGMS Pharmacological Sciences (PS) training grant program, including a recent decline in the number of programs and a decrease in the diversity of training opportunities available to students through the program. The meeting was attended by most of the 26 currently funded PS training grant program directors; representatives from more than 50 other potential applicant institutions; members of the NIGMS Biomedical Research Training initial review group; and representatives of relevant scientific societies, industry, and the government. Invited speakers and breakout discussion sessions addressed the following major topics:
- What is core training in the pharmacological sciences that makes it a distinct NIGMS program? What is state-of-the-art training and how is it accomplished?
- What is the proper balance between molecular/cellular and systems/integrative pharmacology? What can be done to restore balance?
- What can be done to maintain scientific diversity in the portfolio of PS programs?
- Would inclusion of a clinical experience in the PS graduate program be helpful?
- Would inclusion of an industrial experience in the PS graduate program be helpful?
- How have changes in medical education affected graduate education and vice versa?
- How have changes in graduate recruitment affected PS training programs?
- What is good training in the pharmacological sciences?
- What have been the outcomes of training in the pharmacological sciences?
A report on the meeting is being prepared and will be posted on the NIGMS Web site.
Contact: Dr. Peter Preusch, preuschp@nigms.nih.gov, 301-594-5938 back to top
Meeting Report: Bioinformatics Meeting
Large consortium grants exemplify the trend in biomedical science toward multidisciplinary, high-throughput research and a "systems" approach to the science. This is the hallmark of the future of biomedical research, and arguably one of the greatest barriers to its rapid progress is the infancy of bioinformatics. The purpose of this workshop was to bring together the principal investigators of NIGMS glue grants, their key bioinformatics personnel, and bioinformatics personnel from other NIGMS/NIH-supported large consortia to discuss cross-cutting issues of mutual interest in bioinformatics, provide NIGMS with information as to how these issues are being resolved, and identify future needs/opportunities in this area. Workshop participants identified a large number of core issues and potential barriers to progress. Dr. Pamela Marino summarized these and presented them as short- and long-term needs for large consortia.
Contact: Dr. Pamela Marino, marinop@nigms.nih.gov, 301-594-1832 back to top
Meeting Report: Evolution of Infectious Diseases
On August 29-30, 2002, NIGMS held a conference on the Evolution of Infectious Diseases, primarily for grantees and their students. The meeting objectives were to:
- Provide a forum for current research in the evolution of infectious diseases;
- Identify key areas for future research;
- Stimulate interdisciplinary, collaborative approaches to studies of the evolution of infectious diseases; and
- Increase interest in and recruitment for interdisciplinary research in this area from underrepresented minority student pools.
Because this is a very rapidly expanding area of research and because it has implications for human health, the talks and workshops were lively and topical. Interactions among researchers working on different organisms and among experimentalists and evolutionary biologists drove the energetic tone of the discussions. More information is available at http://pub.nigms.nih.gov/evolution/default.htm.
Contact: Dr. Irene Eckstrand, eckstrai@nigms.nih.gov, 301-594-0943 back to top
Concept Clearance: Modeling of Intentional Release and Emergence of Infectious Agents
Because of its interest in modeling and complex systems, NIGMS has been working closely and collaboratively with the Fogarty International Center and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) to develop a modeling component of the NIH biodefense research agenda. On August 5, 2002, a working group of experts met to discuss the modeling of intentional release and emergence of infectious agents. The scientific challenges discussed by the working group provided information for a new NIGMS initiative based on the following principles:
- Consistent with the approach of NIAID, bioterrorism is a variant of the general problem of emerging infectious diseases. The fact that the mode of transmission or the properties of the microbe may result from a deliberate act does not change the fundamental research approach.
- Modeling of infectious diseases must take a broad systems approach. The best models will take into account microbial biology and natural history, host response to infection, ecological and evolutionary information, and the dynamics of intervention strategies (e.g., vaccines, antimicrobials, or antivirals).
- Emerging infectious diseases typically come from species-jumping agents or zoonoses. It is important to look beyond current human pathogens at the larger systems from which future pathogens will come.
The scientific scope of the initiative would address:
- Models of the microbe;
- Models of within-host dynamics;
- Models of evolution and ecology;
- Response models; and
- Improved statistics and models.
The Council approved the proposed initiative.
Contact: Dr. Irene Eckstrand, eckstrai@nigms.nih.gov, 301-594-0943 back to top
Meeting Report: Workshop on the Basic Biology of Mammalian Stem Cells
NIGMS hosted a Workshop on the Basic Biology of Mammalian Stem Cells on June 9-10, 2002. The purpose of the workshop was to bring stem cell researchers and basic biologists together to better understand the unique properties of embryonic stem cells (ESC) and to consider how ESC might be used to advance the study of fundamental research problems. The workshop report, which can be found at http://www.nigms.nih.gov/news/reports/stemcellworkshop.html, highlights many opportunities to use human ESC to study important biological problems, including, but not limited to: the regulation of gene expression, determinants of differentiation and dedifferentiation, the basis of cell polarity and asymmetric cell division, signaling pathways required for cell adhesion and cell migration, and as a primary cell type for drug discovery. The report also identifies activities that need to be addressed in order to stimulate and facilitate the use of human ESC as a model system. These include: continued interdisciplinary collaborations and discussions between stem cell researchers and basic biologists, characterization of improved conditions for the growth of ESC and their maintenance in an undifferentiated state, characterization of molecular and genetic markers that distinguish ESC from more differentiated cells (including adult stem cells), and funding initiatives to encourage and enable basic biologists to work with human ESC and to initiate pilot projects using human ESC as a model system.
Contact: Dr. Marion Zatz, zatzm@nigms.nih.gov, 301-594-0943 back to top
Concept Clearance: Human Embryonic Stem Cell Initiatives
The recent NIGMS Workshop on the Basic Biology of Mammalian Stem Cells (see summary above) identified activities that need to be addressed in order to stimulate and facilitate the use of human embryonic stem cells as a model system. In order to address these needs, NIGMS proposed two initiatives to support human embryonic stem cell research: exploratory center grants, using the P20 mechanism, and administrative supplements to principal investigators of NIGMS R01, R37, and P01 grants. The supplements would enable explorations of the feasibility of using human ESC as a research approach to address the existing specific aims of the grant without expanding the scope of research questions being addressed. Dr. Marion Zatz presented these initiatives to the National Advisory General Medical Sciences Council for consideration, and the Council approved them.
Contact: Dr. Marion Zatz, zatzm@nigms.nih.gov, 301-594-0943 back to top
Concept Clearance: New Initiatives Proposed by the Division of Minority Opportunities in Research (MORE)
MARC U*STAR Supplemental Grants for Curricular Development in the Quantitative Sciences
The MARC Branch proposed a two-phase mechanism to introduce into pre-MARC and MARC student science curricula quantitative analytical methods in the study of biological and biochemical processes. The first phase would support planning to develop pedagogical tools for the introduction of quantitative concepts, computational skills, and principles of mathematical modeling in the analysis of biological processes. The second phase would support implementation plans and would be a part of a competitive MARC U*STAR application and/or a competitive supplement to a MARC U*STAR grant.
Additional MARC U*STAR Trainee Slots for the Participation of Students Majoring in the Quantitative Sciences
The MARC Branch proposed to provide two to six additional trainee slots to successful MARC U*STAR programs to enable these programs to include students majoring in quantitative sciences such as physics and mathematics. The Branch asked for Council approval to provide MARC U*STAR programs, upon request, with up to six trainee slots above the number originally recommended by Council for a specific program.
Minority Medical Student (MMEDS) Award
The MARC Branch proposed a new Minority Medical Student (MMEDS) Award. This award would use a fellowship mechanism to support a 1-year mentored research experience for underrepresented minority medical students who are interested in research, in good standing, and have completed their second year of basic medical training.
The Council approved all three proposed initiatives.
Contact: Dr. Clifton Poodry, poodryc@nigms.nih.gov, 301-594-3900 back to top
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