FYI from the NHLBI Index
February 2005: Vol. 5, Issue 3 Summaries of Meetings
and Announcements of Upcoming Events
2nd Annual National Wear Red Day:
Taking Women's Health to Heart
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Advisory Council’s
Fall Meetings
- September 2, 2004
- October 21, 2004
Upcoming 2005 Events
2nd Annual National Wear Red Day: Taking Women’s
Health to Heart
The
NHLBI is collaborating with national and local partners to proclaim the first
Friday during American Heart Month (February 4, 2005) as National Wear Red
Day. Show your support by wearing red to raise awareness that more American
women die of heart disease than any other cause. For more information on women
and heart disease and ideas on how to raise awareness in your community, visit
The Heart Truth.
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Advisory Council's Fall Meetings
September 2, 2004
Dr. Barbara Alving noted that two NHLBI programs are recognized officially in
September—the Sickle Cell Disease Program and the Cholesterol Education
Program.
In the current period of “budget flattening,” the Institute is
trying to maintain its funding line for traditional research grants (R01s).
In FY 2004 the Institute funded unsolicited R01s through the 25.0 percentile.
The Institute expects to issue fewer initiatives in the coming year and will
be investigating how to increase efficiency in its clinical trials.
Dr. Charles Peterson presented an overview of the Institute’s sickle
cell disease research program. Dr. Elizabeth Nabel highlighted three clinical
research areas of major growth at the NIH: stem cell research, sickle cell anemia
and pulmonary complications, and cardiothoracic surgery. Dr. Robert Balaban
described three ongoing intramural research projects that are using discovery-based
tools to fill in the “gaps” in our knowledge about the cardiovascular
system. Dr. Warren Leonard reported on research undertaken in his lab
on the role of defective cytokine signaling in severe combined immunodeficiency.
At the conclusion of the presentations, Dr. Alving and several NHLBI staff
members summarized ways in which the NHLBI fosters interaction between research
communities within and outside the NIH—for example, through Cooperative
Research and Development Agreements and programs like the Programs for Genomic
Applications.
Dr. Lawrence Friedman updated Council members on the NIH Roadmap. Dr.
James Kiley presented an overview of the Institute’s Clinical Research
Networks. Dr. Robert Lemanske, Jr., Council member and Professor of Pediatrics
and Medicine at the University of Wisconsin Hospital, discussed the work of
two asthma-related networks—the Asthma Clinical Research Network and the
Childhood Asthma Research and Education Network.
Dr. Carl Roth updated the Council on recent policy changes regarding program
project grants (P01s) and grant applications with direct costs of $500,000 or
more in any one year.
During the closed portion of the meeting, the Council concurred on the award
of 104 grants for a total cost of $42,383,000.
October 21, 2004
Dr. Barbara Alving thanked the five members who are retiring from the Council:
Dr. Melissa Austin, Ms. Sue Byrnes, Dr. Jeffrey Drazen, Dr. Ananda Prasad, and
Dr. Pearl Toy. She welcomed the five new Council members who began their terms
on November 1, 2004: Dr. Charles T. Esmon, Dr. Katherine High, Ms. J. Hoxi Jones,
Dr. Jeffrey McCullough, and Dr. Patricia Wahl.
Representatives from the NHLBI Advisory Committees spoke about the roles of
their committees in the Institute:
• Dr. Shelly Carter, Clinical Trials Review Committee
• Dr. Pamela Davis, Board of Scientific Counselors
• Dr. Cheryl Hillery, Heart, Lung, and Blood Program Project Review Committee
• Dr. Theodore Wun, Sickle Cell Disease Advisory Committee
Ms. Sandra Gault gave an overview of the budget. The President’s
FY 2005 budget request for the NHLBI, which totals $2,964.0 million, represents
a 3.0 percent increase over last year and is the same total amount as the House
Allowance; the Senate Allowance totals $2,985.9 million and represents a 3.6
percent increase.
The Center for Scientific Review (CSR), NIH, organizes the peer review groups
that evaluate the majority of research grant applications sent to the NIH.
Dr. Michael Martin, CSR, discussed their projects and activities to improve
organizational structure and functioning.
Dr. Alving described the Institute’s plans to work with the Pan American
Health Organization to support cardiovascular disease prevention and control
in Latin America and the Caribbean region. Dr. Paul Sorlie presented demographic
and health information on the Hispanic population in the United States.
Dr. Stephen Mockrin discussed the future direction of systems biology programs
within the NHLBI and other Federal agencies.
Twelve new initiatives that were reviewed by the Board of Extramural Advisors
in September were presented to the Council, which supported all of them.
During the closed portion of the meeting, the Council concurred on the award
of 259 grants for a total cost of $106,282,000.
The next NHLBAC meeting is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. on February 10, 2005. It
is open to the public and will be held in NIH Building 31C, Conference Room
10.
The Institute thanks Ms. Sue Byrnes, member of the NHLBAC and director of the
LAM Foundation, for her efforts in preparing this summary. Full
minutes of Council meetings and summaries of the initiatives are available.
Upcoming 2005 Events
Date: February 1 - 28
Dates: February 2 - 4
Location: New Orleans, Louisiana
Dates: February 10 and June 16
Location: Building 31C, Conference Room 10, NIH Campus, Bethesda,
MD.
Time: 8:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. Meetings are open to the public.
Date: February 14
Dates: March 28 - April 3
Dates: April 8 - 10
Location: Cincinnati, Ohio
Please send us your feedback, comments, and questions by using the appropriate link on the page, Contact the NHLBI.
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