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. With this support, scientists make biomedical discoveries, translate these findings to animal-based studies, and then apply them to patient-oriented research. Ultimately, these advances result in cures and treatments for both common and rare diseases. 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. Together, NCRR's four integrated and complementary divisions accelerate and enhance research along the entire continuum of biomedical science.

Important Events in the Division of Research Resources* (DRR) History (*Predecessor to NCRR)

1962—On April 13, Dr. Luther L. Terry, PHS Surgeon General, 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 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 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 the 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 NIGMS.

Important Events in NCRR History

1990—On February 15, Dr. Louis W. Sullivan, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, approved the merger of the Division of Research Resources and the Division of Research Services to form the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR).

NCRR's extramural programs included: Biological Models and Materials Research, Biomedical Research Support, Biomedical Research Technology, Animal Resources, General Clinical Research Centers, Research Centers in Minority Institutions, and Research Facilities Improvement. NCRR intramural resources included: the Biomedical Engineering and Instrumentation Program, the Library Branch, the Medical Arts and Photography Branch, and the Veterinary Resources Program.

The Center 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.

NCRR supported the First Annual Research Centers in Minority Institutions' International AIDS Symposium focused on AIDS in minority populations in the United States, Africa, and Latin America.

1991—The Science Education Partnership Award (SEPA) Program was established.

The Center sponsored a workshop of multidisciplinary experts in structural biology research which generated recommendations for future directions in the report, Technologies for the Future: Opportunities and Needs in Structural Biology and Molecular Medicine.

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. NCRR discontinued the Biomedical Research Support Grant Program.

1994—The Minority K-12 Teachers and High School Students Program was initiated to replace the Minority High School Student Research Apprentice Program.

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.

The Center released Technologies for the Future—Biomedical Computing: A Critical Tool for Research, describing opportunities in key biomedical computing areas such as neural systems and biomolecular simulations.

1995—NCRR's 5th anniversary was marked with a "Partnership for Discovery Symposium"to highlight biomedical advances accomplished with NCRR support.

The Center collaborated with the NIH Office of Research on Minority Health to establish the Research Infrastructure in Minority Institutions (RIMI) Initiative, a demonstration project to assist non-doctoral degree minority institutions to develop their research infrastructure, primarily through collaborations with research-intensive universities.

The Report of the Panel to Formulate Recommendations for the GCRC Program was released.

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

The Center established the RCMI Clinical Research Infrastructure Initiative (RCRII) 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 by NCRR, NCI, NHLBI, NIDDK, and the Office of AIDS Research.

The NCRR Web site was created to enhance researchers' access to information on research resources and scientific opportunities.

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.

The Evaluation of the NIH Shared Instrumentation Grant (SIG) Program: Reports from Users was issued.

1997—NCRR published the National Survey of Laboratory Animal Use, Facilities, and Resources.

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

The "Neuroscience Technology Development Workshop" participants recommended new scientific opportunities NCRR should pursue in order to develop research resources to enhance neuroscience research activities.

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.

The minority clinical associate physician and clinical research scholar career development elements of the GCRC Program were merged into the Clinical Associate Physician Career Program.

NCRR established the NIH Chimpanzee Management Program (ChiMP).

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.

NCRR established a career-enhancing award in Mouse Pathobiology Research for veterinarians engaged in pathobiology. The award protects time devoted to pathobiology research studies in genetically altered mice and enhances mentoring activities to increase the pool of future mouse pathobiologists.

The first annual scientific meeting of NCRR-supported comparative medicine resource directors was hosted by the Miami National Resource for Aplysia, University of Miami.

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

Through a collaboration with the Cystic Fibrosis (CF) Foundation, several NCRR-supported GCRCs became part of a CF treatment and diagnostic center network, enhanced by an NCRR-funded GCRC Data Management Unit to collate and analyze the CF clinical trial results.

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 one of four 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—NCRR published the Cost Analysis and Rate Setting Manual (last revised in 1979) to reflect a cost-allocation change in DHHS policy for research-related direct and indirect costs incurred by institutional animal research facilities.

NCRR and several other NIH components cofunded a number of new initiatives to enhance research priority areas such as bioengineering (including nanotechnologies) and biocomputing (including informatics), and new animal models.

NCRR published the results of an evaluation of the RCMI Program and a mid-course assessment of the RIMI Program.

NCRR published the Full-Scale Evaluation of the Regional Primate Research Centers (RPRC) Program.

NCRR established a number of new faculty mentoring and student training grant opportunities, utilizing existing NIH funding mechanisms, to encourage medical students to pursue clinical research careers and research veterinarians to become independent researchers.

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 Program funds independent research centers focused on specific scientific themes to increase research capacity.

NINDS, ORMH, and NCRR established the Specialized Neuroscience Research Program at Minority Institutions to strengthen faculty and student neuroscience research capabilities.

NCRR continued activities to transition from the National Chimpanzee Biomedical Research Program to the NIH Chimpanzee Management Program, established in l998. NCRR funded an expanded database of pertinent information on NIH-owned chimpanzees and assumed the ownership of approximately 300 chimpanzees previously used for federally supported biomedical research from a private entity.

2001—NCRR launched the Biomedical Informatics Research Network (BIRN), 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 is established to enable institutions to purchase instruments that cost more than $1 million.

A Research Subject Advocate (RSA) Program, established at the GCRCs, informs patients and volunteers about the research studies in which they participate and facilitates the timely reporting of serious adverse events to appropriate oversight boards and agencies.

Islet Cell Resource Centers are established to isolate, characterize, and distribute human pancreatic islets for transplantation into patients with type I diabetes and for basic research protocols.

A network of National Gene Vector Laboratories (NGVLs) is established to produce clinical-grade vectors for human gene transfer protocols and to perform related toxicology studies for Phase I and Phase II human clinical gene transfer protocols.

The Mutant Mouse Regional Resource Centers network began accepting transgenic animals from researchers to add to its collection for broad dissemination to the biomedical research community.

A National Stem Cell Resource established at the American Type Culture Collection in Manassas, Virginia acquires and distributes cells, reagents, and information about nonhuman embryonic and postnatally derived stem cells from a variety of species.

The Centers of Veterinary Research Excellence (COVRE) Program is established to address the shortage of research veterinarians by providing support for faculty, infrastructure, and recruitment of promising young investigators.

As part of the Institutional Development Awards (IDeA) Program, NCRR established Biomedical Research Infrastructure Network (BRIN) grants to help IDeA institutions attract established investigators, develop the research skills of resident investigators, alter and renovate laboratories, and purchase modern equipment.

The 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 five 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, are 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 (CHIMP) Act of December 2000 mandated such a sanctuary.

NCRR expanded breeding of Specific-Pathogen-Free (SPF) Rhesus Macaques in response to a national shortage and demand for these models. To explore alternatives to the use of rhesus macaques in biomedical research, experts met at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C. to develop recommendations intended to alleviate scientific demands for rhesus macaques.

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

The Argonne National Laboratory's Advanced Photon Source and the NCRR-supported Northeastern Collaborative Access Team, or NE-CAT agreed to build three experimental stations, known as beamlines, at the APS for synchrotron radiation research to study protein complexes and other biomolecular structures.

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 components of NIH established the Rare Disease Clinical Research Network, which consists of seven 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. The data-coordinating center works with the sites to integrate various kinds of data including genetic, microarray, clinical, laboratory, and imaging.

A Biomedical Computing Science and Technology Program was established by NCRR and 16 other NIH components to provide support for fundamental research as well as the development and application of new biocomputing tools or technologies. The program promotes research and development in computational science and technology that supports rapid progress in areas of scientific opportunity in biomedical research.

The Stroke Prevention/Intervention Research Program (SPIRP) was established to identify racial and geographical disparities related to stroke and cerebrovascular disease and to establish programs aimed at reducing or eliminating these disparities. The SPIRP is funded by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS); the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR), and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI).

NCRR and the 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 began with the funding of a test-bed consortium of six IDeA states (called the Lariat Project) to provide increased connectivity for high-bandwidth science applications and facilitate collaborations among these and other institutions. IDeANET will eventually provide support for a national IDeA network—beginning with Lariat—to include all participants in the IDeA Program, as well as participants in the RCMI Program, connecting with other Networks supported by NCRR. 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 is intended to relieve strategic bottlenecks in connectivity entering states and improve Internet performance at many sites throughout the IDeA states.

A Viper Resource Center was established at Texas A&M University in Kingsville, Texas to provide a resource of more than 400 venomous snakes. The snake venoms—a rich, stable source of biomedically important proteins such as disintegrins, metalloproteases, and fibrinolytic enzymes—are of particular interest because they can alter the shape, orientation, and movement of cells, and may play a role in the treatment of cancer, heart attacks, and strokes.

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 Center houses 150-250 pathogen-free swine and cryopreserves genetic material and reproductive cells so that important swine models can be rederived as needed. Because the anatomy and physiology of pigs are remarkably similar to humans, the animals are ideal models for studying diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and obesity. The swine resource also conducts research aimed at improving cryopreservation, eliminating pathogens, and producing transgenic and knockout swine.

The Drosophila Genomics Resource Center (DGRC), housed at the Center for Genomics and Bioinformatics at Indiana University in Bloomington, was created to assist researchers in applying genomics in the model organism Drosophila by assuring economical access to quality-controlled genomics materials. The DGRC produces and distributes DNA microarray slides for gene expression analyses; tests new and alternative genomics technologies; facilitates the collection and analysis of array expression data; and collects and distributes other reagents and materials essential for Drosophila genomics research, including large clone sets, common transformation vectors, and cell lines.

Three new resources were developed to integrate technologies that enhance the study of proteomics and glycomics, two 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 are 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, Louisiana, 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, high-level administrators in research organizations, scholarly organizations, and NIH senior program staff. The Strategic Plan is intended to guide 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.

NCRR funded the first national center for high-throughput genotyping dedicated solely to large-scale SNP (single nucleotide polymorphism) analysis. This high-capacity resource allows U.S. researchers to quickly and cost-effectively carry out large-scale studies of genetic variation in humans and animals to advance disease gene identification. Research on genetic variation is aimed at improving the diagnosis and treatment of numerous diseases of humans that may have significant genetic components—such as type I diabetes, schizophrenia, and some types of cancer—by identifying specific genetic markers, or genotypes, that are associated with particular diseases or responses to drug therapies.

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. Additionally, NCRR is the lead Center partnering with other NIH components to support Exploratory Centers for Interdisciplinary Research, which seeks to lower the artificial barriers that divide researchers and impede scientific progress. NCRR is also the lead NIH component supporting National Technology Centers for Networks and Pathways to develop new technologies to study the dynamics of molecular interactions within cells. NCRR also supports the National Centers for Biomedical Computing initiative, which will build the computational infrastructure for biomedical computing, ranging from basic research in computational science to providing the tools and resources needed by biomedical and behavioral researchers.

The Resources for X-Ray Tomography of Whole Cells was established by NCRR and the U.S. Department of Energy at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, California. Employing the new field of cryo X-ray tomography, in which samples are rapidly frozen and viewed using a transmission X-ray microscope, researchers will be ableto create and examine high-resolution, three-dimensional images of the inside of cells.

The Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory at Stanford University in California received a $58 million upgrade with support from NCRR, NIGMS, and the U.S. Department of Energy. The upgrade project essentially rebuilt the existing storage ring—the machine in which electrons circulate at nearly the speed of light, producing visible and invisible forms of light called synchrotron radiation. This venture, which increased the brightness of the synchrotron radiation by one or two orders of magnitude, was begun in 1999 and completed in mid-December 2003.

The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill received support to further develop and make more widely available a Genome Fingerprint Scanning Program. The tool allows researchers to match mass spectrometry data directly to raw, unannotated genetic sequences to identify proteins and locate novel genes. Proteomics, the study of how proteins interact and respond to changing conditions in complex systems, is increasingly being used to help decipher diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and Alzheimer’s.

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, Tennessee; Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science in Los Angeles, California; and the Puerto Rico consortium, which consists of the three 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 2005, NCRR (on behalf of NIH) launched a new NIH Roadmap for Medical Research initiative—the Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSAs) — 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 awards will help institutions nationwide create an academic home for clinical and translational science. CTSAs 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 new CTSAs are 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 Science Education Partnership Awards (SEPA) Program awarded approximately $22 million to fund 21 SEPA projects. The SEPA Program serves K-12 students and teachers, as well as science centers and museums across the country. Many of the funded projects provide opportunities for underserved and/or minority populations to pursue science careers. In addition, SEPA partnerships develop projects that educate the general public about health and disease, with the aim of helping people make better lifestyle choices as new medical advances emerge.

NCRR expanded its Islet Cell Resource (ICR) Program to provide cells for basic research studies. Previously, human islet cells had only been provided for clinical transplantation. The cells will be made available to researchers for basic science studies at no cost, if their proposals are approved by the ICR's Administrative and Bioinformatics Coordinating Center. With support from NCRR, NIDDK, and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, a consortium of ICR Centers isolate, purify, and characterize human pancreatic islets for use in scientific research and for subsequent transplantation into patients with type I diabetes and for basic research protocols.

The RCMI 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 program commemorated its 20th anniversary with events such as a national symposium at Texas Southern University in Houston, an awards program and lecture at Howard University in Washington, D.C., and a Symposium on Addiction, Neurosciences, and HIV/AIDS at the Universidad Central del Caribe in Bayamon, Puerto Rico.

The Biomedical Technology Resource Centers Program awarded $18.2 million to create two new centers to develop new image guided therapies and to further biochemistry studies of diseases such as alcoholism and cancer. Brigham and Women's Hospital of Boston will receive $15 million over five years in a cooperative agreement to establish a national Image Guided Therapy Center. The new resource will provide a unique, "one-stop-shopping" research, training, and service center that will develop and make available to scientists and clinicians image processing and display tools; dynamic and adaptive Magnetic Resonance Imaging methods; novel therapy techniques; and image-guided robotics. Through the second award, NCRR will provide Indiana University in Bloomington with $3.2 million over three years to launch the National Center for Glycomics and Glycoproteomics to advance the study of carbohydrate molecules. A relatively new field that uses sophisticated tools and methods, glycomics is the study of complex sugar molecules that are attached to many proteins and lipids found in the blood, on the surfaces of cells, and in other places in the human body.

The High-End Instrumentation (HEI) Program awarded 11 grants totaling $18 million to fund the purchase of new state-of-the-art equipment required to advance biomedical research. Awarded to research institutions around the country, the one-time grants support the acquisition of instruments that cost more than $750,000, with a maximum of $2 million each. Since its inception in 2002, the HEI Program has provided 62 awards and 2 supplements to biomedical research institutions in 23 states, totaling $95,652,561.

The WiCell Research Institute in Wisconsin was awarded $16.1 million over four years to fund a National Stem Cell Bank. The National Stem Cell Bank, awarded to the WiCell Research Institute in Wisconsin, 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.

Through its Research Facilities Improvement Program (RFIP), NCRR awarded nearly $30 million for 10 construction projects across the country. The grants will allow institutions to construct new laboratory space, improve research imaging capabilities, renovate existing infrastructure systems, and create facilities for research animals. The FY 2005 RFIP awards will fund the design, construction, and fixed equipment costs for new research facilities such as The Northern Plains Center for Behavioral Research at the University of North Dakota; the Center for Human Genetics and Complex Traits at the University of Pennsylvania; and the Breast and Women's Cancer Laboratory at the University of California, Irvine. The program will support new resources for research animals at the Tulane University Health Sciences Center and the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. Grants will allow the Massachusetts General Hospital and Vanderbilt University to increase their research imaging capabilities. Finally, funding will enable major renovations to research laboratories at Meharry Medical College, Montana State University, and the University of Washington.

The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill — funded by a five-year NCRR grant totaling $2.46 million — launched the National Gnotobiotic Rodent Research Center, significantly expanding the existing Mutant Mouse Regional Resource Center at the university. The Center will provide scientists across the Nation with access to gnotobiotic mice and rats, which will allow more precise explorations of how genes interact with the environment. Gnotobiotic organisms either are germ-free or have some contaminants that are known to the experimenter. Gnotobiotic techniques serve to produce germ-free and disease-free laboratories.

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. At capacity, Chimp Haven will be able to accommodate about 175 chimpanzees. The sanctuary was established in response to the Chimpanzee Health Improvement, Maintenance, and Protection (CHIMP) Act of December 2000, which authorized $30 million in Federal dollars for the sanctuary.

2006—In October 2006, NIH created a national consortium that will 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 (CTSAs), begins 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 has developed a Web site (ctsaweb.org) to ensure access to CTSA resources, enhance communication, and encourage information sharing.

NCRR provided $24.29 million over five years to the University of California, Irvine for continued support to the Biomedical Informatics Research Network (BIRN). Currently a consortium of 28 universities and 37 research groups, BIRN is leveraging and sharing distributed tools, software applications, techniques, data, and expertise that extend beyond the boundaries of individual laboratories. This major NCRR initiative, involving both basic and clinical investigators, is initially concentrating on research involving neuroimaging, but the tools and technologies developed will ultimately be applicable to other disciplines.

The Rare Diseases Clinical Research Network (RDCRN), an initiative of the 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 RDCRN has received five-year funding awards totaling $71 million.

As part of the NIH Roadmap for Medical Research, NCRR led the establishment of a comprehensive Web portal containing the results of the Inventory and Evaluation of Clinical Research Networks (IECRN) initiative. It is designed to promote collaboration among networks and facilitate identification of networks for clinical studies. The Web site provides clinical researchers and the public with an online database containing profiles of all existing clinical research networks. Users can browse networks, conduct keyword searches, or use advanced search capabilities. The inventory information is easily updated, and new or additional clinical research networks will be considered for inclusion in the Web inventory database.

As part of its ongoing effort to build a public, genome-wide library of "knockout" mouse models for the study of human disease, NIH awarded a total of $800,000 for deposition of existing knockout mice to two public mouse repositories to acquire genetically engineered mouse lines not yet widely accessible to researchers. In the two decades since recombinant DNA technology was first used to produce lines of mice in which specific genes have been disrupted, or "knocked out," such mice have proven to be one of the most powerful tools available to study the function of genes and to create animal models of human disease. To facilitate sharing, NCRR supports a networkof public repositories that archive and distribute mouse strains.

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

NCRR provided nearly $20 million to fund 18 Science Education Partnership Awards (SEPA) across the nation. The SEPA projects are designed to inform the public about health issues, foster science literacy, and encourage students to consider careers in the health sciences.

The High-End Instrumentation (HEI) Program awarded 14 grants totaling $21.5 million to fund the purchase of new state-of-the-art equipment required to advance biomedical research. Awarded to research institutions around the country, the one-time grants support the acquisition of instruments that cost more than $750,000, with a maximum of $2 million each. High-end instruments supported in this round of funding include supercomputers, nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometers, and cryo-electron microscopes. Since its inception in 2002, the HEI Program has provided 76 awards and 2 supplements to biomedical research institutions in 24 states, totaling $118,206,581.

NCRR provided $117.3 million to fund four new and seven continuing Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE). The awards support multidisciplinary centers—each concentrating on one general area of research—that strengthen institutional biomedical research capability and enhance research infrastructure. COBREs are a component of the IDeA Program, designed to improve the competitiveness of investigators in states that historically have not received significant levels of competitive NIH research funding.

NCRR provided nearly $5 million to the National Center for X-ray Tomography, located at the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Advanced Light Source. This new center features a first-of-its-kind X-ray microscope that will enable scientists to perform "CAT scans" on biological cells, just one of many unprecedented capabilities for cell and molecular biology studies.

Ten institutions nationwide received awards totaling $30 million from NCRR's Research Facilities Improvement Program. The grants will allow construction of new laboratory space and upgrades to research-imaging facilities, among other improvements. The awards will fund construction for several new facilities, including a behavioral research center at the University of North Dakota; a women's cancer laboratory at the University of California, Irvine; and a center for human genetics at the University of Pennsylvania.

With co-funding from NCRR, NCI, and NIBIB, Brigham and Women's Hospital of Boston received $15 million over five years to establish a national Image Guided Therapy Center. This unique resource will allow physicians to see deep beneath the skin during surgical procedures through imaging techniques such as CT scanning, ultrasound, and endoscopy.

Indiana University in Bloomington received $3.2 million of NCRR funding over three years to launch the National Center for Glycomics and Glycoproteomics. The Center will study specific sugars (i.e., complex signaling molecules found throughout the body) that are critical for reproduction, growth and development, and the ability to fight infection. The Center also will create and share new tools to unravel the structures of these molecules and how they work. Scientists will use these to study both basic biology and diseases from cancer to alcoholism.

NCRR sponsored or co-sponsored four workshops (Ensuring the Inclusion of Clinical Research in the National Health Information Network, Supporting Connectivity for Biomedical Research: Executive Session, Genetic Tools for Optimizing the Use of Rhesus Macaques for Translational Research, and Navigating the Translational Researcher Through a Complex of Animal and Biological Resources) and one conference (NIH Conference on Knowledge Environments for Biomedical Research) for the biomedical research community. Information on these meetings is available on the NCRR Workshops Web Site (http://www.esi-bethesda.com/ncrrworkshops/).

NCRR Legislative Chronology

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

August 19, 1959—Congress appropriated $2 million to establish two 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 $23,935,000 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 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 General Clinical Research Centers. 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 Bush signed into law the NIH Reform Act of 2006. Of specific importance to NCRR, the legislation enhances the Clinical Translational Science Awards by requiring the establishment of a mechanism to preserve independent funding and infrastructure for pediatric clinical research centers.

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

Dr. Barbara M. Alving is the Director of the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) 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 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 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 two patents, has edited three books, and has published more than 100 papers in the areas of thrombosis and hemostasis.

NCRR Directors

Name	In Office from	To
Barbara M. Alving	April 2007	Present
Barbara M. Alving (Acting)	April 2005	March 2007
Judith L. Vaitukaitis	September 1992	March 2005
Robert A. Whitney, Jr.	November 1988	August 1992

DRR* Directors
(*NCRR's predecessor organization)

Name	In Office from	To
Betty H. Pickett	October 1982	October 1988
James F. O'Donnell (Acting)	January 1981	September 1982
Thomas G. Bowery	November 1969	December 1981
Thomas J. Kennedy	July 1965	November 1969
Frederick L. Stone	July 1962	June 1965

Major Extramural Programs

Division of Biomedical Technology Research

Biomedical Technology (BT) Resource Centers

Advances in technology are the underlying force that drives innovation and rapid progress in science at all stages of biomedical research—from studies of molecules and cells to whole organisms—both animal and human. The NCRR Division of Biomedical Technology (BT) supports a broad spectrum of technologies, techniques, and methods through more than 50 BT Resource Centers at academic and other research institutions nationwide.

At these Centers, researchers develop more sophisticated and powerful magnetic resonance imaging tools and techniques that help investigators study both the structure and the function of the brain, lungs, heart, and other organs. They examine the structure and dynamics of biomolecules, cells, and tissues, using a variety of laser-based spectroscopic techniques. Research at these centers aids development of minimally invasive procedures for diagnosing diseases, including cancer and atherosclerosis.

Diverse technologies are integrated in the pursuit of a particular research goal, such as developing novel approaches for processing brain images in order to identify changes in the brain over time. BT Resource Center investigators study molecular structures and the design of novel drugs by developing and disseminating several technologies—including synchrotron X-rays, mass spectrometry, and precision microscopy. By examining the detailed shapes of molecules in the body, scientists can better understand the underlying causes of disease and develop effective therapies based on these discoveries. Simulation and computation tools are employed to visualize electric fields emanating from the heart and brain, identify genetic components that underlie disease susceptibility, and model structural changes in proteins and nucleic acids.

Researchers gain unique insights into human metabolism and scrutinize the atomic-scale details of biomolecules through use of magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Examining proteins and other complex molecules in their native environment offers otherwise-unattainable insights into the maneuvering of disease-related molecules in the body. By bringing together expertise in biology, analytical chemistry, and informatics to study proteomics and Glycomics, BT Resource Centers enable investigators to gain a better understanding of these protein and carbohydrate molecules—how they work and how changes in these structures cause illness or are affected by medicines—could lead to new treatments for a multitude of diseases.

Biomedical Informatics Research Network (BIRN)

BIRN is an NCRR-supported initiative that will test a new method of doing large-scale medical science. The goal of the BIRN is to establish a readily available infrastructure to support collaborative research among biomedical and clinical investigators, including the wide sharing of software tools, distributed computation, and data. The BIRN program is a cooperative effort between information and computer scientists, as well as biomedical and clinical scientists. The program consists of components focused on multi-site structural MRI; multi-site functional MRI; multi-site integrated imaging of the mouse from whole animal to the sub-cellular level; and a technology development core. The purpose of the components is to drive development of an open robust infrastructure, demonstrate that the infrastructure does indeed enhance research (including clinical research), and ensure that the infrastructure is transportable to other areas of science.

Shared Instrumentation Grant (SIG)

The 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. 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 (HEI)

Rapid technological development has led to the production of a new generation of advanced instruments. 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 Shared Instrumentation Grant Program and also uses the S10 funding mechanism.

Division for Clinical Research Resources

The NCRR Division for Clinical Research Resources (DCRR) leads the Clinical and Translational Science Awards Program, a part of the NIH Roadmap for Medical Research enabling researchers to provide new treatments more efficiently and quickly to patients. DCRR 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

NIH has created a national consortium that will 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 (CTSAs), begins with 12 academic health centers located throughout the nation. An additional 52 institutions received 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 has developed a Web site (ctsaweb.org) to ensure access to CTSA resources, enhance communication, and encourage information sharing.

General Clinical Research Centers (GCRCs)

Currently, a network of 59 GCRCs, located primarily at U.S.academic medical centers across the country, offers NIH-supported investigators and other researchers specialized environments to safely and effectively conduct controlled inpatient and outpatient studies. Each GCRC offers a range of resources. A center is typically a discrete unit located within a medical center hospital. GCRC staff includes research nurses, dietitians, biostatisticians, technicians, and administrative personnel who are highly trained to provide a supportive environment for patients and to help investigators by facilitating the day-to-day research process. In most instances, a GCRC will have a core laboratory, metabolic and dietary resources, and a computerized database management and analysis system. The GCRC network will gradually be transformed under the new CTSA program, described above.

National Gene Vector Laboratories (NGVLs)

NIH established the NGVLs in l995 to produce certain vectors needed by researchers to systematically advance the use of human genes from the realm of basic research into clinical studies of research patients. The NGVL network is currently composed of four facilities. In 2000, vector production was consolidated into processes overseen by the NGVL Steering Committee and implemented by the NGVL Coordinating Center at Indiana University. Currently, the NGVLs provide lentiviral and retroviral vectors, adnenovial vectors, and nonviral vectors. In addition, toxicology studies for selected types of vectors are now supported through the NGVL program and a database of toxicology study results is available to appropriate investigators through a generally accessible master file. Investigators submit requests for vectors to Indiana University, which coordinates the application review through the NGVL Steering Committee. Committee members often make suggestions to applicants to help improve the proposals.

Rare Diseases Clinical Research Network

The Rare Diseases Clinical Research Network (RDCRN), an initiative of the 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 ten 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, Massachusetts, 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 (ICR) Centers

In 2001, NCRR established a network of ten ICR Centers to isolate, purify, and characterize human pancreatic islets for subsequent transplantation into patients with type I diabetes. The ICR Centers will procure whole pancreata and acquire relevant data about the donors; improve islet isolation and purification techniques; distribute islets for use in approved clinical protocols; and perfect the methods of storage and shipping. In this way, the Centers will optimize the viability, function, and availability of islets and help clinical researchers to capitalize on the recently reported successes in islet transplantation. These activities will expand the ability of clinical researchers to bring this experimental therapy into practice.

Human Tissues and Organs Resource

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

Science Education Partnership Award (SEPA)

The 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 award supports development of a variety of model programs 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.

Division of Comparative Medicine

The NCRR Division of Comparative Medicine (DCM) focuses on extramural research activities that explore and develop animal models for use in translational studies of human disease. DCM programs support the maintenance and distribution of primate, rodent, aquatic, and comparative animal models and resources. The division also has a unique training program aimed at providing research training for veterinarians and veterinary students.

Nonhuman Primates

Nonhuman primates (NHPs) 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. NHPs are also used in pre-clinical, applied research studies to test therapeutic approaches and vaccines. NCRR funds and oversees a network of eight National Primate Research Centers (NPRCs), which provide the animals, facilities and expertise to enable NHP research. 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 Program provides housing and lifetime care for chimpanzees no longer needed for research.

Rodents

Rodents, especially mice, play a central role in translational research as a result of numerous disease commonalities between the mouse and human, and the ophisticated technologies that allow researchers to create specific mutations in mouse embryonic stem cells that mimic human diseases. NCRR's Laboratory Rodents Program supports the development of novel, genetically-engineered rodents; maintenance of special colonies of laboratory rodents with high utility for research; central repositories to distribute characterized rodents and biological materials to biomedical researchers; and new methods for studying, diagnosing, and eliminating disease in laboratory rodents.

Aquatics

Some aquatic animals serve as useful models for studying human development, behavior, and disease. With short reproductive cycles and transparent eggs that are easily observed as they develop, zebrafish are particularly useful for research. NCRR's Aquatics Models Program explores and develops resources that maintain critical genetic stocks, biological materials, as well as online information. Through these resources, investigators have access to widely used aquatic models including the zebrafish, marine slug, squid, and octopus.

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, 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 & 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 & Career Development Programs

Molecular and genomic studies using animal models provide a key part of 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 (DRI) 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 DRI sponsors the following programs:

Research Centers in Minority Institutions (RCMI)

Begun in 1985, the RCMI Program is a congressionally mandated initiative that provides grants to institutions that award doctoral degrees in health-related fields and that have a 50 percent 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.

Specifically, the RCMI program supports faculty development and provides resources to acquire advanced instrumentation, modify laboratories for competitive research, and support core research facilities. The program also expands the capacity for clinical research in RCMI institutions that have affiliated medical schools through the Clinical Research Infrastructure Initiative. This program encourages minority scientists to participate in clinical investigations and increases volunteer participation by minorities in clinical research studies.

Institutional Development Award (IDeA)

The IDeA Program was initiated by Congress to broaden the geographical distribution of NIH grant funding for biomedical and behavioral research. Through this 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 (COBRE) 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 (INBRE) supports statewide partnerships that include undergraduate and graduate/professional institutions.

Research and Animal Facilities Improvements (RFI and AFI)

RFI 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 AFI 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

NCRR printed and disseminated a new Overview Brochure (http://www.ncrr.nih.gov/about_ncrr/brochure.pdf) that provides a summary of NCRR programs and links to related information. The brochure highlights NCRR's broad spectrum of support from basic discovery to patient care.

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 (https://list.nih.gov/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=ncrr-reporter&A=1) 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 (CTSA) Consortium has developed a Web site (ctsaweb.org) to ensure access to CTSA resources, enhance communication, and encourage information sharing.

NCRR produces several online directories that list NCRR-supported biomedical technology, clinical research, comparative medicine resource centers that can be accessed by biomedical investigators who have their project funding from other sources. Each directory listing provides a point of contact at the center, the center's research emphasis, and the center's resource capabilities available to outside investigators. Information on research being conducted at RCMI- and IDeA-funded institutions is also available online. Biomedical investigators interested in learning more about NCRR-supported resource centers may access these directories from the NCRR Web site: www.ncrr.nih.gov.