ARRA

Monday, April 13, 2009

New NIH Recovery Act Opportunity Seeks to Fund High Impact, Large-Scale, Accelerated Research

Goal to Promote Growth and Investment in Biomedical R&D, Public Health and Health Care Delivery.

The National Institutes of Health highlighted a new funding opportunity under the Recovery Act that will support approximately $200 million in large-scale research projects that have a high likelihood of enabling growth and investment in biomedical research and development, public health and health care delivery. The purpose of this new program, the Research and Research Infrastructure "Grand Opportunities" (GO), is to support high impact ideas that lend themselves to short-term funding and may lay the foundation for new fields of scientific inquiry.

"With this new program, we will support large biomedical and biobehavioral research endeavors that will benefit from a significant two-year jumpstart in funds and are ready for immediate implementation," said Acting NIH Director Raynard S. Kington, M.D., Ph.D. "The goals are to fund high impact research that will lead to growth and investment in these fields and stimulate the economy in the process."

In responding to this opportunity, grant applicants may propose to address either a specific research question or the creation of a unique infrastructure/resource designed to accelerate scientific progress in the future. The GO grants will support large-scale research projects that accelerate critical breakthroughs, early and applied research on cutting edge technologies, and new approaches to improve the synergy and interactions among multi and interdisciplinary research teams.

Each participating NIH Institute has indicated their priorities for the GO grants. An example of the type of project that could be funded under this program is the identification and validation of biomarkers in human genetics and biology that indicate the risk for disease or that could serve as a marker of disease progression and/or responsiveness to treatment. Validation of biomarkers could dramatically improve the detection, prevention, and treatment of disease. Another priority is research on information technology that will enable physicians to share radiological images across health care institutions, which could result in reduced health care costs, as well as improved accuracy for medical decision-making.

For more information, see Recovery Act Limited Competition for NIH Grants: Research and Research Infrastructure "Grand Opportunities" (RC2): http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-OD-09-004.html.

About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.

NIH…Turning Discovery Into Health®

The activities described in this release are being funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). More information about NIH’s ARRA grant funding opportunities can be found at http://grants.nih.gov/recovery/. To track the progress of HHS activities funded through the ARRA, visit www.hhs.gov/recovery. To track all federal funds provided through the ARRA, visit www.recovery.gov.

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