The NIH Almanac

Mission

The National Center for Research Resources (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. NCRR supports all aspects of clinical and translational research, connecting researchers, patients, and communities across the nation. This support enables discoveries made at a molecular and cellular level to move to animal-based studies, and then to patient-oriented clinical research, ultimately leading to improved patient care. Through programs such as the Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSAs), NCRR brings together innovative research teams and equips them with essential tools and critical resources needed to tackle the nation's complex health problems.

Important Events in NCRR History

1962—On April 13, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Luther L. Terry announced the creation of the Division of Research Facilities and Resources (DRFR), officially established on June 15.

In June, the Regional Primate Research Centers transferred from the National Heart Institute to DRFR.

1967—The Biotechnology Resources Program (BRP) was established with the transfer of Centers for Biomedical Computing and Bioengineering to DRFR from another NIH component. BRP funded the first Centers in Mass Spectrometry and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance.

1969—DRFR, in the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) Bureau of Health Professions Education and Manpower Training, was renamed the Division of Research Resources (DRR).

1970—DRR was removed from the Bureau of Health Professions Education and Manpower Training and became an independent NIH division.

1972—The Minority Biomedical Research Support Program was formed.

1975—The NIH Director approved a broadened mission for the division and an internal reorganization.

1979—The BRP funded the first synchrotron facility for use in X-ray crystallography by NIH investigators.

1980—The Minority High School Student Research Apprentice Program began.

1985—The Research Centers in Minority Institutions Program was established.

The Biological Models and Materials Research Section was created in DRR's Animal Resources Program.

1986—The only national laboratory dedicated to biomedical applications of fluorescence was funded at the University of Illinois.

1987—The Pittsburgh Supercomputer Center was funded.

1988—The Research Facilities Improvement Program began.

1989—The Biological Models and Materials Resources Section of the Animal Resources Program became the Biological Models and Materials Research Program.

The Minority Biomedical Research Support Program was transferred from DRR to NIH's National Institute of General Medical Sciences.

1990—On February 15, Louis W. Sullivan, M.D., Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, approved the merger of the Division of Research Resources and the NIH Division of Research Services to form the National Center for Research Resources.

NCRR received appropriated funding for the Research Centers in Minority Institutions (RCMI) program, which had been previously administered by DRR but funded by the Office of the Director, NIH, since the program's inception in l985.

1991—The Science Education Partnership Award program was established.

1993—NCRR began the Science Teaching Enhancement Award program, a 2-year pilot program to create a corps of master teachers to form institutional partnerships that would improve biology education at the pre-college level.

The Institutional Development Award (IDeA) program and the Research Facilities Improvement Program were established, as mandated by the NIH 1993 Revitalization Act.

1994—NCRR convened expert biomedical investigators, academic administrators, and staff to develop NCRR's first comprehensive strategic plan, NCRR: A Catalyst for Discovery, A Plan for the National Center for Research Resources.

1995—NCRR reorganized the original 7 extramural programs into: Biomedical Technology, Clinical Research, Comparative Medicine, and Research Infrastructure.

The Center established the RCMI Clinical Research Infrastructure Initiative to enable RCMI-eligible institutions with affiliated medical schools to develop their clinical research infrastructure.

Three National Gene Vector Laboratories were established with joint funding from: NCRR; National Cancer Institute; National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases; and NIH Office of AIDS Research.

1996—An agreement was formalized between the NIH/NCRR Shared Instrumentation Grant program and the National Science Foundation's Multi-user Equipment Program to jointly review and fund single scientific instruments costing more than $500,000.

1997—NCRR's intramural programs were transferred to the NIH Division of Intramural Research Services within the NIH Office of Research Services.

The NCRR Reporter, a quarterly magazine formerly published by DRR as the Reporter, celebrated its first 20 years of publication.

1998—A comprehensive 5-year strategic plan, NCRR—A Catalyst for Discovery—A Plan for the National Center for Research Resources: 1998-2003, was published.

NCRR established the NIH Chimpanzee Management Program.

1999—NCRR established the nation's eighth Regional Primate Research Center (RPRC) at the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research—the first center to be added to the RPRC network since the 1960s.

NCRR established the Mutant Mouse Regional Resource Centers Program.

Eight "collaboratory" projects were initiated within the NCRR-supported Biomedical Technology Resource Centers to demonstrate and evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of conducting multi-investigator research utilizing the Internet.

A full-scale biosafety level-4 (BL4) laboratory—partially funded by NCRR—was dedicated at the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research in Texas. It is 1 of 4 federally supported BL4 labs nationwide, but the only such facility dedicated to basic molecular studies and investigation of long-term pathogenesis of deadly microbes.

2000—As part of the IDeA program, NCRR established Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) at independent institutions located in states with historically low aggregate success rates for obtaining NIH grants. The COBRE support thematic multidisciplinary centers that augment and strengthen institutional biomedical research capacity.

2001—NCRR launched the Biomedical Informatics Research Network, a shared network of neuroimaging databases that serves as a test bed for development of hardware, software, and protocols for mining data in a site-independent manner for both basic and clinical research.

The first NIH-wide High-End Instrumentation grant program was established to enable institutions to purchase instruments that cost more than $1 million.

NCRR began providing Science Education Partnership Awards (SEPA) to science centers and museums nationwide to enhance the reach of unique health-related education programs.

2002—NCRR, along with 5 other NIH components, issued infrastructure enhancement awards to increase the capacity for basic research using human embryonic stem cells for preclinical investigations. The awards, which support entities listed on the NIH Human Embryonic Stem Cell Registry, were designed to increase the supplies and access to cells that are self-renewing and well characterized for quality controls.

A private, nonprofit organization received a contract to establish and operate a sanctuary for chimpanzees no longer needed for biomedical research. The Chimpanzee Health Improvement, Maintenance, and Protection Act of December 2000 mandated such a sanctuary.

The 8 Regional Primate Research Centers were renamed as National Primate Research Centers (NPRCs) to reflect their enhanced emphasis on providing nonhuman primates and related resources to biomedical scientists nationwide.

The Rat Resource and Research Center (RRRC), established at the University of Missouri (Columbia), serves as a resource for the study of rat models for biomedical research worldwide. The RRRC imports, cryopreserves, produces, and distributes high-quality laboratory rats.

2003—To address the challenges inherent in diagnosing and treating rare diseases, NCRR and other NIH components established the Rare Disease Clinical Research Network, which consists of 7 Rare Diseases Clinical Research Centers and a Data and Technology Coordinating Center. Each research center consists of a consortium of clinical investigators partnering with patient-support groups and institutions within and outside of the United States that have agreed to work together studying a group of rare diseases.

NCRR and the NIH National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities awarded a grant to Tuskegee University to complete its National Center for Bioethics in Research and Health Care. The grant allows the university to provide research and teaching facilities for faculty, researchers, and visiting scholars for studies in bioethics, public health, and integrated bioscience programs. The Center is the nation's first bioethics institute dedicated to addressing issues that involve African Americans and other vulnerable or disadvantaged populations.

IDeANET (an Internet-based network providing connectivity for high-bandwidth science applications. IDeANet enables collaboration among institutions) began with the funding of a test-bed consortium of 6 IDeA states (called the Lariat Project) to provide increased connectivity for high-bandwidth science applications and facilitate collaborations among these and other institutions. IDeANET enhances IT infrastructure by providing support for staff in bioinformatics and data management cores, computer hardware and software, and Internet2 broad-bandwidth access for biomedical applications. It was intended to relieve strategic bottlenecks in connectivity entering states and to improve Internet performance at many sites throughout the IDeA states.

The Division of Comparative Medicine funded 3 new resource centers. A Viper Resource Center was established at Texas A&M University in Kingsville, Texas, to provide a resource of more than 400 venomous snakes. A National Swine Research and Resource Center was established at the University of Missouri-Columbia to serve as a national repository and distribution center for genetically modified swine. The Drosophila Genomics Resource Center, housed at the Center for Genomics and Bioinformatics at Indiana University in Bloomington, Ill, was created to assist researchers in applying genomics in the model organism Drosophila by assuring economical access to quality-controlled genomics materials.

Three new resources were developed to integrate technologies that enhance the study of proteomics and glycomics, 2 emerging fields that seek to identify and uncover the structures, functions, and interactions of the thousands of proteins (proteomics) or carbohydrates (glycomics) found in cells. The new resources were the Proteomics Research Resource for Integrative Biology at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Integrated Technology Resource for Biomedical Glycomics at the University of Georgia, and the Integrated Proteome Technologies for Pathway Mapping resource at the University of Michigan, which houses a high-throughput robotic analysis system.

Tulane University, in New Orleans, established a center for the preparation, quality testing, and distribution of adult stem cells. The center prepares and distributes a continuous supply of marrow stromal cells derived from adult human and rat bone marrow, using standardized protocols.

2004—A comprehensive 5-year strategic plan, 2004-2008 Strategic Plan: Challenges and Critical Choices, was published, based on the input of biomedical investigators, senior administrators in research organizations, scholarly organizations and NIH senior program staff. The Strategic Plan guided NCRR's priorities for investments, including local and national networks, research resources, technology development, instrumentation, biological models, and biomedical informatics tools to facilitate research intended to prevent, alleviate, or treat human disease.

Using existing resources and centers, NCRR began serving as a significant partner in many NIH Roadmap initiatives, including those under the theme of Re-engineering the Clinical Research Enterprise. NCRR was the lead Center partnering with other NIH components to support Exploratory Centers for Interdisciplinary Research. NCRR was also the lead NIH component supporting National Technology Centers for Networks and Pathways. Additionally, NCRR supports the National Centers for Biomedical Computing initiative.

Comprehensive Centers on Health Disparities were established to systematically address one or more of the health disparities that negatively impact racial and ethnic minority populations served by the grantee institutions. The new centers are: Meharry Medical College in Nashville; Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science in Los Angeles; and the Puerto Rico consortium, which consists of the 3 accredited medical schools in Puerto Rico (the University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine, the Universidad Central del Caribe School of Medicine, and the Ponce School of Medicine.) The health disparities to be studied include a variety of cancers (breast, prostate, and colorectal); diabetes mellitus; renal disease; infant mortality; AIDS; and cerebrovascular and cardiovascular diseases.

2005—In October, NCRR (on behalf of NIH) launched a new NIH Roadmap for Medical Research initiative—the Clinical and Translational Science Awards—designed to speed the process by which biomedical discoveries are translated into effective medical care for patients. Developed with extensive input from the scientific community, the CTSAs were established to help institutions nationwide create an academic home for clinical and translational science. The awards will provide an opportunity for institutions to develop critical resources and integrate clinical and translational science across multiple disciplines and academic departments, schools, clinical and research institutes and hospitals. By lowering barriers among disciplines and encouraging creative, innovative approaches to solve complex medical problems, the CTSAs were expected to fundamentally transform the conduct of clinical and translational science in the United States and usher in a new approach for preemptive medical care.

The Research Centers in Minority Institutions program celebrated its 20th anniversary. Launched in 1985 with Congressional support, the RCMI program fosters environments that are conducive to excellence in basic, clinical, and behavioral research. Through training and career development opportunities, the RCMI program also establishes a critical mass of scientists that more closely reflect the growing ethnic and cultural diversity of the U.S. population.

The WiCell Research Institute in Wisconsin was awarded $16.1 million over 4 years to fund a National Stem Cell Bank. The Bank will consolidate many of the federally funded eligible human embryonic stem cell lines in one location, reduce the costs that researchers have to pay for the cells, and maintain quality control over the cells. The Stem Cell Bank will provide scientists affordable and timely access to federally approved human embryonic stem cells and other technical support that will make it easier for scientists to obtain the cell lines currently listed on the NIH Human Embryonic Stem Cell Registry.

Chimp Haven, the first federally funded chimpanzee sanctuary, opened on October 28, 2005. The sanctuary, funded by an NCRR contract, provides lifetime care for federally owned or supported chimpanzees that are no longer needed for biomedical research. NCRR also awarded construction grants so that Chimp Haven could develop and build a state-of-the-art facility that closely resembles the chimpanzees' natural habitat. The sanctuary was established in response to the Chimpanzee Health Improvement, Maintenance, and Protection Act of December 2000, which authorized $30 million in federal dollars for the sanctuary.

2006—In October, NIH created a national consortium to transform how clinical and translational research is conducted, ultimately enabling researchers to provide new treatments more efficiently and quickly to patients. Led by NCRR, this new consortium, funded through Clinical and Translational Science Awards, began with 12 academic health centers located throughout the nation. An additional 52 awardees are receiving planning grants to help them prepare applications to join the consortium. When fully implemented in 2012, about 60 institutions will be linked together to energize the discipline of clinical and translational science. The new program draws on NIH's earlier initiatives to re-engineer the clinical research enterprise, one of the key objectives of the NIH Roadmap for Medical Research. The CTSA Consortium developed a Web site (ctsaweb.org) to ensure access to CTSA resources, enhance communication, and encourage information sharing.

The Rare Diseases Clinical Research Network, an initiative of the NIH Office of Rare Diseases and NCRR—in collaboration with many NIH Institutes, facilitates clinical research of rare diseases. More than 20 studies opened at approximately 50 sites across the United States and in several other countries including the United Kingdom, Japan, and Brazil. The network has received 5-year funding awards totaling $71 million.

NIH also awarded a set of cooperative agreements, totaling up to $52 million over 5 years, to launch the Knockout Mouse Project. The goal of this program was to build a comprehensive and publicly available resource of knockout mutations in the mouse genome. NCRR was one of the 19 NIH Institutes, Centers and Offices contributing to the Knockout Mouse Project.

2007—In April, NIH Director Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D., named Barbara Alving, M.D., M.A.C.P., to be the director of NCRR. Dr. Alving joined NIH in 1999. She has previously served as the acting director of NCRR as well as NHLBI.

In September, NCRR expanded the CTSA consortium from 12 to 24 academic health centers. The consortium's major goal is to speed the translation of laboratory discoveries into treatments for patients. Currently, the CTSA consortium is working to address three major priorities: standardizing clinical research informatics, streamlining institutional review board processes, and developing national curricula for clinical and translational science. When fully implemented in 2012, 60 institutions will be linked together to energize the discipline of clinical and translational science. View Image.

Scientists have now added a third primate to the list of sequenced genomes: the rhesus macaque, Macaca mulatta. This old-world monkey is the nonhuman primate most widely used in biomedical studies focusing on major diseases, such as AIDS and diabetes. Its genome sequence is reported in the April 13, 2007, issue of Science. The sequencing, funded by NIH's National Human Genome Research Institute, was performed at the Baylor College of Medicine Human Genome Sequencing Center in Houston; the Genome Sequencing Center at Washington University in St. Louis; and the J. Craig Venter Institute in Rockville, Md. It was based on the DNA from a single individual—a female rhesus macaque housed at the NCRR-funded NPRC at the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research in San Antonio. The California, Oregon, and Yerkes NPRCs, also funded by NCRR, contributed additional biological samples used in the study. View Image.

NCRR provided $9.5 million over 3 years to launch a Translational Research Network that will increase the opportunity for multi-site clinical and translational research among minority and other collaborating institutions throughout the nation. Investigators at these institutions are focused on cancer, diabetes, renal disease, infant mortality, HIV/AIDS, and cardiovascular diseases—all of which disproportionately affect minority populations.

Researchers at the Oregon Health and Science University's NPRC—funded by NCRR—made a significant breakthrough in efforts to develop human stem cell therapies to combat devastating diseases. For the first time, scientists successfully derived embryonic stem cells by reprogramming the genetic material of skin cells from rhesus macaque monkeys. Related future studies will have the potential to accelerate progress in regenerative medicine.

A team of University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers led by Dr. James Thomson reported the genetic reprogramming of human skin cells to create cells apparently indistinguishable from embryonic stem cells. This alternative to the embryo-based cloning technique shows that human skin cells can be reprogrammed into so-called induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells that look and act like embryonic stem cells. These iPS cells could be used to generate patient-specific stem cells. Using this new reprogramming technique (inserting viral genes into adult human skin cells), the Wisconsin group developed 8 new stem cell lines.

NCRR released a multimedia presentation—Harnessing Innovation to Advance Human Health—that provides an overview of the Center's mission, grant programs, and resources.

2008—The NCRR Strategic Plan 2009–2013: Translating Research from Basic Discovery to Improved Patient Care, was published. This comprehensive 5-year Strategic Plan reflects extensive discussions and advice from a broad spectrum of individuals, including biomedical scientists, senior administrators in research institutions, members of professional organizations, and NIH senior program staff. Implementation of the plan requires that NCRR continue to develop and explore creative ways to partner with other federal government agencies and additional organizations, both public and private. NCRR also will continue to enlist the help of researchers and administrators across the biomedical research community to ensure successful implementation of the plan and its continued evolution in response to new challenges and discoveries.

Fourteen academic health centers in 11 states became the latest members of the National Institutes of Health's CTSA consortium. These 14 academic health centers join 24 others announced in 2006 and 2007. Creating a unique network of medical research institutions across the nation, the consortium is working to reduce the time it takes for laboratory discoveries to become treatments for patients and to engage communities in clinical research efforts. The 2008 CTSA grants expand state representation in the consortium to Alabama, Colorado, Indiana, Massachusetts, and Utah. They also support pediatric research at 13 dedicated children's hospitals, expand research in genetics and genomics, enhance research in behavioral immunology and infection risk, and increase outreach into local communities. View Image.

CTSA institutions are forming regional networks within the national consortium. Such networks have formed on the West Coast, in the Midwest, and on the East Coast, improving collaboration between CTSA institutions in these areas. These regional alliances also provide opportunities to cultivate equitable and collaborative partnerships between regional communities and the CTSA institutions, create new ways to disseminate information about research findings, and conduct research that leads to measurable improvements in community health.

CTSA networks also are building partnerships with other NCRR programs—such as the Institutional Development Awards program and the Research Centers in Minority Institutions programs—through research collaborations, visiting professorships, working groups, and sharing and leveraging resources and infrastructure. The goal is to extend the CTSA philosophy of interdisciplinary interactions and connectivity to generate partnerships and collaboration beyond the consortium to organizations involved with health care throughout the nation. These partnerships enable scientists to expand research opportunities and to share their expertise and resources to further advance clinical and translational research.

Scientists developed the first genetically altered monkey model that replicates some symptoms observed in patients with Huntington's disease, according to a new study funded by NCRR. Researchers are now able to better understand this complex, devastating and incurable genetic disorder affecting the brain. This advance, reported in the May 18 advance online edition of Nature, could lead to major breakthroughs in the effort to develop new treatments for a range of neurological diseases. View Image.

NCRR funded 5 new IDeA grants over the next 5 years. The awards support multidisciplinary centers that strengthen institutional biomedical research capability and enhance research infrastructure. The IDeA program is designed to improve the competitiveness of investigators in states that historically have not received significant levels of competitive NIH research funding. The new centers are being established at the University at Hawaii, Manoa to study reproductive biology; University of Kentucky to identify mechanisms linking the epidemic of obesity to cardiovascular disease; University of Louisville Research Foundation, Inc. to study the cardiovascular causes and consequences of diabetes and obesity; University of Nebraska Medical Center to research nanomedicine, drug delivery, therapeutics, and diagnostics; and The Mind Research Network, a nonprofit research organization in Albuquerque, N.M., to study the neural mechanisms of schizophrenia.

NCRR Legislative Chronology

July 30, 1956—The Health Research Facilities Act of 1956 (Title VII of the Public Health Service act) authorized a PHS program of federal matching grants to public and nonprofit institutions for the construction of health research facilities. Congress extended title VII through 1971. No grants were made under this authority after 1969.

August 19, 1959—Congress appropriated $2 million to establish 2 primate research centers.

September 15, 1960—Public Law 86-798 amended the PHS act to authorize grants-in-aid to universities, hospitals, laboratories, and other public and nonprofit institutions to strengthen their programs of research and research training in sciences related to health. The act also authorized the use of funds appropriated for research or research training to be set aside by the Surgeon General in a special account for general research support grants. Passage of this law resulted in the Biomedical Research Support Program.

July 29, 1971—The Minority Biomedical Research Support Program was created with $2 million from the Senate Appropriations Committee under authority of sec. 301(c) of the amended PHS act.

October 3, 1984—The Research Centers in Minority Institutions program was created with a $5 million congressional appropriation to the NIH Office of the Director. DRR was given administrative authority for the program.

December 22, 1987—Public Law 100-202 provided $23.9 million for the "repair, renovation, modernization and expansion of existing research facilities, and for the purchase of associated equipment." The accompanying report, H.R. 100-498, directed that the money be spent on improving AIDS research facilities. The Research Facilities Improvement Program was created in DRR in response to this legislation.

November 6, 1990—Public Law 101-613, NIH Revitalization Act of l990, mandated new programs, specified program funding levels, and reauthorized existing activities.

June 10, 1993—Public Law 103-43, NIH Revitalization Act of l993, provided the statutory authority to redesignate DRR as NCRR and the authority to fund construction of biomedical and behavioral research facilities, with a special provision for centers of excellence and regional centers for research utilizing nonhuman primates. It also authorized the Institutional Development Award program, which supports programs in states that historically have been unsuccessful in competing for NIH grants.

November 13, 2000—The Clinical Research Enhancement Act of 2000, which is Title II of the Public Health Improvement Act [Minibus] (P.L. 106-505), provided the NCRR director with statutory authority to award grants for the establishment of GCRCs. The bill also required the NIH director to establish a Loan Repayment Program to encourage recruitment of new clinical investigators and to award grants that will enhance clinical research career development.

November 13, 2000—The Twenty-First Century Research Laboratories Act, which is Title III of the Public Health Improvement Act [Minibus] (P.L. 106-505), authorized $250 million for FY 2001 to the NCRR director to make grants or contracts to public and nonprofit private entities to expand, remodel, renovate, or alter existing research facilities or to construct new research facilities, including centers of excellence. It also authorized such sums as necessary for FY 2002 and FY 2003. In addition, the Act created, in statute, a specific authorization for NCRR's Shared Instrumentation Grant program, authorizing $100 million for FY 2000 and such sums as necessary for subsequent fiscal years.

December 20, 2000—The Chimpanzee Health Improvement, Maintenance, and Protection Act (P.L. 106-551) required NIH to enter into a contract with a nonprofit private entity for the purpose of operating a sanctuary system for the long-term care of chimpanzees that are no longer needed in research conducted or supported by the federal government. The law provides for standards for permanent retirement of chimpanzees into the system, including prohibiting using sanctuary chimpanzees for research except in specified circumstances.

January 15, 2007—President George W. Bush signed into law the NIH Reform Act of 2006. Of specific importance to NCRR, the legislation enhances the Clinical and Translational Science Awards by requiring the establishment of a mechanism to preserve independent funding and infrastructure for pediatric clinical research centers.

December 26, 2007—President Bush signed into law P.L. 110-170, the Chimp Haven is Home Act.  Provisions would modify the program for the sanctuary system for surplus chimpanzees by terminating the authority for the removal of chimpanzees from the system for research purposes.

Biographical Sketch of NCRR Director Barbara M. Alving, M.D.

Barbara M. Alving, M.D., M.A.C.P., is the director of the National Center for Research Resources at the National Institutes of Health. She earned her medical degree—cum laude—from Georgetown University School of Medicine, where she also completed an internship in internal medicine. She received her residency training in internal medicine at the Johns Hopkins University Hospital, followed by a fellowship in hematology.

Dr. Alving then became a research investigator in the Division of Blood and Blood Products at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. In 1980, she joined the Department of Hematology at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research and became chief of the department in 1992. She left the Army at the rank of colonel in 1996 to become the director of the Medical Oncology/Hematology section at Washington Hospital Center in Washington, D.C.

In 1999, she joined the NIH National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), serving as the director of the extramural Division of Blood Diseases and Resources until becoming the deputy director of the Institute in September 2001. From September 2003 until February 1, 2005, she served as the acting director of NHLBI while also serving as the director of the Women’s Health Initiative (2002-2006). In April 2005, Dr. Alving joined NCRR, serving as the acting director until being named director in April of 2007.

Dr. Alving is a professor of medicine at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, a master in the American College of Physicians, a former member of the subcommittee on Hematology of the American Board of Internal Medicine, and a previous member of the FDA Blood Products Advisory Committee. She is a co-inventor on 2 patents, has edited 3 books, and has published more than 100 papers in the areas of thrombosis and hemostasis.

NCRR Directors

Name	In Office from	To
Frederick L. Stone	July 1962	June 1965
Thomas J. Kennedy	July 1965	November 1969
Thomas G. Bowery	November 1969	December 1981
James F. O'Donnell (Acting)	January 1981	September 1982
Betty H. Pickett	October 1982	October 1988
Robert A. Whitney, Jr.	November 1988	August 1992
Judith L. Vaitukaitis	September 1992	March 2005
Barbara M. Alving (Acting)	April 2005	March 2007
Barbara M. Alving	April 2007	Present

Major Extramural Programs

Division of Biomedical Technology

Biomedical Technology Research Centers

The Division of Biomedical Technology supports the development of a broad spectrum of technologies, techniques, and methods through 52 Biomedical Technology Research Centers (BTRCs) at academic and other research institutions nationwide. The BTRCs develop versatile new technologies and methods that help researchers who are studying virtually every human disease, each creating innovative technologies in 1 of 5 broad areas: imaging resources, informatics resources, optical & laser technology, structural biology, and systems biology. They are complemented by programs providing research project grants to individual investigators and small businesses, often focusing on high-risk, high-reward technological innovation.

These resources create critical, often unique technology and methods at the forefront of their respective fields, and apply them to a broad range of basic, translational, and clinical research. This is accomplished through a synergistic interaction of technical and biomedical expertise, both within the resources and through intensive collaborations with other leading laboratories.

BTRCs serve a unique purpose in the broad context of NIH-funded research. They represent a wealth of technological and intellectual resources focused on service and training for investigators. To accelerate translational research, BTRCs actively disseminate technologies, methods, and software through approaches ranging from direct distribution to commercialization. The goal of the centers is to promote widespread application of cutting-edge technological discoveries across the full spectrum of science and medicine, from bench to bedside.

Biomedical Informatics Research Network

The NCRR-funded Biomedical Informatics Research Network (BIRN) uses emerging technologies to enhance collaborative efforts that integrate data, expertise, and unique technologies from research centers across the country. The collaborative infrastructure is used by BIRN test beds to create new tools and procedures that enable multi-site studies and also benefit single-laboratory research. The tools and datasets, and the underlying collaborative infrastructure, are publicly available. Collaborations within BIRN include scientists in a large number of biomedical sub-disciplines as well as computer scientists and engineers who are creating this cyberinfrastructure.

BIRN tools currently focus on neuroscience and are available to researchers worldwide as they pursue the causes and new treatments of Alzheimer's disease, schizophrenia, major depression, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and autism. However, researchers in other medical fields, including cardiology and cancer, can also benefit from this infrastructure to support collaborative research and sharing of data and applications.

Shared Instrumentation Grant

The Shared Instrumentation Grant (SIG) program provides funding—using the S10 funding mechanism—to institutions to purchase commercially available, expensive, technologically sophisticated equipment for use by groups of NIH-supported researchers. Examples of instrumentation supported by SIG funding include nuclear magnetic resonance systems, electron and confocal microscopes, mass spectrometers, protein and DNA sequencers, biosensors, X-ray diffractometers, and cell sorters. Shared use of these high-sensitivity and high-resolution instruments, essential to understanding fundamental biological processes, optimizes this federal investment. The SIG mechanism provides between $100,000 and $500,000 for the purchase of such instruments.

High-End Instrumentation

Rapid technological development has led to the production of a new generation of advanced instruments. Instruments in this price range include structural and functional imaging systems, macromolecular NMR spectrometers, high-resolution mass spectrometers, electron microscopes, and supercomputers. As the capabilities of these high-sensitivity, high-resolution instruments increases, so does their cost. To meet the investigators needs for this advanced technology, in FY 2002, NCRR began the High-End Instrumentation (HEI) program, which allows institutions to acquire equipment that costs more than $750,000. The maximum award is $2.0 million. The HEI grant program complements the SIG program and also uses the S10 funding mechanism.

Division for Clinical Research Resources

The NCRR Division for Clinical Research Resources administers the Clinical and Translational Science Awards, a part of the NIH Roadmap for Medical Research enabling researchers to provide new treatments more efficiently and quickly to patients. The division also provides funding to biomedical research institutions to establish and maintain specialized clinical research facilities and clinical-grade biomaterials that enable clinical and patient-oriented research. It supports these resources through the following programs:

Clinical and Translational Science Awards

The Clinical and Translational Science Award program is designed to more rapidly and efficiently transfer discoveries made in the laboratory into new treatments for patients. Through the CTSAs, academic health centers are working together as a consortium to provide enriched resources to educate and develop the next generation of researchers trained in the complexities of translating research discoveries into clinical trials and ultimately into practice; design new and improved clinical research informatics tools for analyzing research data and managing clinical trials; support outreach to underserved populations, local community, and advocacy organizations and health care providers; assemble interdisciplinary teams that include biologists, clinical researchers, dentists, nurses, pharmacists, biomedical engineers, and veterinarians; and forge new partnerships with private and public health care organizations, including pharmaceutical companies, the Veterans Administration hospitals, and health maintenance organizations as well as state health agencies. Additionally, each CTSA is creating an academic home at each grantee institution for clinical and translational research.

CTSA program information can be found on the NCRR Web site at: www.ncrr.nih.gov/ctsa.asp. For more information about the consortium, visit CTSAweb.org.

General Clinical Research Centers

NCRR funds a national network of 26 General Clinical Research Centers (GCRCs) that provide settings for medical investigators to conduct safe, controlled, state-of-the-art, in-patient and out-patient studies of both children and adults. GCRCs also provide infrastructure and resources that support several career development opportunities. GCRC staff includes research nurses, dietitians, biostatisticians, technicians, and administrative personnel who provide a supportive environment for patients and help investigators by facilitating the day-to-day research process. The GCRC network will gradually be transformed under the new CTSA program, described above.

National Gene Vector Biorepository

NCRR replaced the National Gene Vector Laboratories in June 2008 with the National Gene Vector Biorepository and Coordinating Center to provide for storage and retrieval of vectors and biologic products associated with gene vector therapy trials and to establish and maintain a gene vector pharmacology and toxicology data repository. The biorepository also will support an information coordinating center and perform original research in gene vector toxicity. The National Gene Vector Biorepository and Coordinating Center at Indiana University will serve as a critical resource for academic investigators conducting gene therapy research. It also will seek to further improve safety for research subjects through education and compliance efforts.

Rare Diseases Clinical Research Network

The Rare Diseases Clinical Research Network, an initiative of the NIH Office of Rare Diseases and NCRR—in collaboration with many NIH Institutes—facilitates clinical research of rare diseases through support for: 1) collaborative clinical research in rare diseases; 2) training of clinical investigators in rare diseases research; 3) distributed clinical data management that incorporates novel approaches and technologies for data management, data mining, and data sharing across rare diseases, data types, and platforms; and 4) access to information related to rare diseases for basic and clinical researchers, academic and practicing physicians, patients, and the lay public. Each of the 10 Rare Diseases Clinical Research Consortia addresses a subset of rare diseases and works closely with relevant patient support organizations, while the Data and Technology Coordinating Center provides innovative approaches to incorporate standards and technologies for data exchange among sites, partners, and resources.

Center for Genotyping and Analysis

The Center for Genotyping and Analysis is the first national center for high-throughput genotyping dedicated solely to large-scale SNP (single nucleotide polymorphism) analysis. Located at the Eli and Edythe L. Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass., the Center serves as a high-capacity resource so that U.S. researchers can quickly and cost-effectively carry out large-scale studies of genetic variation in humans and animals to advance disease gene identification.

Islet Cell Resource Centers

In 2001, NCRR established a network of 10 Islet Cell Resource (ICR) Centers to isolate, purify, and characterize human pancreatic islets for subsequent transplantation into patients with type 1 diabetes. Following competitive applications in 2006, the ICR Center Consortium was reconfigured to consist of 7 production and testing centers and an Administrative and Bioinformatics Coordinating Center—supported for 3 years—for storage and communication of data, program analysis and equitable distribution of islets to basic scientists. The centers purify, store and ship islets under good laboratory practice to investigators for clinical studies and for basic science research. In addition, they conduct comparative studies on purification methods, shipping, storage and potency assays on purified islets. The islet purification program supports the NIAID-NIDDK-sponsored Clinical Islet Transplantation Study of islet efficacy in type 1 diabetes.

Human Tissues and Organs Resource

The Human Tissues and Organs Resource Cooperative Agreement supports a procurement network within the National Disease Research Interchange—a not-for-profit organization. By collaborating with various medical centers, hospitals, pathology services, eye banks, tissue banks, and organ procurement organizations, the Resource provides a wide variety of human tissues and organs—both diseased and normal—to researchers for laboratory studies. Such samples include tissues from the nervous system, pulmonary system, cardiovascular system, endocrine system, eyes, bone, and cartilage.

Science Education Partnership AwardThe Science Education Partnership Award (SEPA) program encourages scientists to work with educators and other organizations to improve students’ (K-12) and the public’s understanding of the health sciences. The SEPA program supports development of a variety of model projects in biomedical and behavioral science education that make it feasible for scientists, educators, media, and community leaders to partner in order to promote science by increasing science literacy. Past models have included a national video education program, a traveling and fixed museum exhibit about AIDS and other health issues, biotechnology research experiences for students and teachers, and health-promoting outreach programs for inner-city and rural communities. The SEPA program also funds mobile laboratories outfitted with state-of-the-art biotechnology equipment that provide opportunities for science education directly to students at their schools.

Division of Comparative Medicine

The NCRR Division of Comparative Medicine provides scientists with essential resources—including specialized laboratory animals, research facilities, training, and other tools—that enable health-related discoveries. Animal models are a critical part of the biomedical research continuum to bridge the gap between basic science and human medicine. Division programs support the maintenance and distribution of primate, rodent, aquatic, and comparative animal models and resources. The division also funds a unique training program aimed at providing research training for veterinarians and veterinary students.

Nonhuman Primates

Nonhuman primates are critical components in translational research because of their close physiological similarities to humans. They are used in hypothesis-based research to enable discoveries that allow investigators to relate their research findings directly to human health. Nonhuman primates are also used in pre-clinical, applied research studies to test therapeutic approaches and vaccines. NCRR funds and oversees a network of 8 National Primate Research Centers, which provide the animals, facilities and expertise to enable studies of nonhuman primates. In addition, applied research grants help develop technologies and reagents that are complementary to, and synergize with, the research activities at the rest of the NPRCs and at other sites. Key research areas include infectious diseases (particularly AIDS), neurobiology, bio-defense, and regenerative medicine. Finally, the Chimpanzee Sanctuary provides housing and lifetime care for chimpanzees no longer needed for research.

Rodents

Rodents play a central role in research that can translate into treatments for human disease. Mice share much in common with human genetics, development, physiology, behavior, and disease and are used to predict promising directions in biomedical research. NCRR’s laboratory rodents program funds development of genetically engineered rodents and research rodent colonies, facilities that distribute rodents and related biological materials, and new ways to study, diagnose, and eliminate laboratory rodent disease.

Aquatics

Some aquatic animals serve as models for studying human development, behavior, and disease. With short reproductive cycles and transparent eggs that are easily observed as they develop, zebrafish are useful for research. Other aquatic models include marine slugs, squid, and octopi. NCRR's aquatic models program funds development and maintenance of critical genetic stocks, biological materials, and online information for researchers.

Comparative Models

Comparative models that add flexibility and ease of manipulation in the early stages of the translational discovery process include fruit flies and round worms, which are genetically well characterized and inexpensive and can undergo many genetic manipulations. Results from experiments involving these less complex models can help scientists decide whether to pursue similar research with higher species. NCRR’s Comparative Models program supports development and use of new and improved models that complement those more traditionally used to study human diseases.

Genetic, Biological, and Information Resources

NCRR supports a variety of sources for genetic analysis services, array technology, and databases. This program also supplies critical biological materials, such as stem cells, enzymes, and proteinases, as well as online information on model organisms.

Research Training and Career Development Programs

Molecular and genomic studies using animal models help lay the foundation for translational research that benefits human health. Scientists with a background in veterinary medicine contribute unique expertise and important knowledge and skills to this paradigm. To address the significant shortage of trained veterinary researchers, NCRR funds National Research Science Award programs specifically aimed at biomedical research trainees with a veterinary background; NCRR is the only unit within NIH to fulfill this need. These programs either introduce veterinary students to research during a summer session, allow veterinary students to immerse in a full-time pursuit of research studies for an entire academic year, or encourage newly graduated veterinarians to pursue research studies for three postdoctoral years, frequently leading to an advanced degree.

Division of Research Infrastructure

The Division of Research Infrastructure develops and invigorates the nation’s research capacity and infrastructure at all stages of research—from basic discoveries in the laboratory to advanced treatments for patients. The division supports the following programs to enhance the competitiveness of investigators in underserved states and institutions and also provides funding to build, expand, remodel or renovate research facilities throughout the nation:

Research Centers in Minority Institutions

The Research Centers in Minority Institutions program develops and enhances the research infrastructure of minority institutions by expanding human and physical resources for conducting basic, clinical, and translational research. The RCMI program provides grants to institutions that award doctoral degrees in the health professions or health-related sciences and have a 50% or greater enrollment of students from minority communities underrepresented in the biomedical sciences. These communities include African Americans, Hispanics, American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders. Because many RCMI investigators study diseases that disproportionately affect minority populations—such as a variety of cancers, diabetes, AIDS, and cardiovascular diseases—the program serves the dual purpose of increasing the number of minority scientists engaged in biomedical research and enhancing studies on minority health.

The RCMI program supports research by: 1) providing a wide array of research resources to enhance institutional infrastructure, ranging from state-of-the-art instrumentation to outpatient clinical research facilities; 2) sponsoring faculty development, enrichment, and expansion activities; 3) enhancing grants management and research development activities; 4) improving biostatistical and informatics resources and developing new technologies; 5) funding pilot projects; and 6) renovating laboratory and animal facilities.

Institutional Development Award

The Institutional Development Award program was initiated by Congress to broaden the geographical distribution of NIH grant funding for biomedical and behavioral research. Through the IDeA program, NCRR fosters health-related research and improves the competitiveness of investigators in states that historically have not received significant levels of competitive research funding from NIH. The IDeA program supports multidisciplinary centers or collaborative partnerships that increase an institution’s capacity to conduct cutting-edge biomedical research. Specifically, the IDeA program establishes Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence within an institution to explore multidisciplinary research themes and foster mentoring opportunities. It also creates networks within a state that share multidisciplinary, thematic scientific goals. Funding for these IDeA Networks of Biomedical Research Excellence supports statewide partnerships that include undergraduate and graduate/professional institutions.

Research and Animal Facilities Improvements

Research Facilities Improvement grants increase the nation’s ability to conduct state-of-the-art research by providing competitive funding to modernize and construct research facilities that support basic and/or clinical investigations. Funding has supported the construction of cancer laboratories, improved research imaging capabilities, and much more. Through the Animal Facilities Improvement Program, NCRR provides institutional funding to improve animal research facilities, including facility upgrades and the development of programs and policies related to laboratory animal care and use.

NCRR Information Dissemination

The NCRR Reporter is a quarterly publication of the National Center for Research Resources. Its purpose is to foster communication, collaboration, and resource sharing in areas of current interest to scientists and others in the biomedical field. Subscriptions to the electronic (e-mail) and print editions of the NCRR Reporter are available free of charge. Subscribe to the E-Reporter by using the NCRR Reporter subscriber page on the NIH LISTSERV Web site. Subscribe to the print edition by contacting the NCRR Information Officer at info@ncrr.nih.gov.

The Clinical and Translational Science Awards consortium’s Web site (ctsaweb.org) ensures broad access to CTSA resources, enhances communication, and encourages information sharing.