NCRR Advisory Committee Reviews BIRN and RCMI Programs
February 15, 2002 - The advisory committee to the
National Institutes of Health's National Center for Research
Resources (NCRR) met Jan. 30 and reviewed prospects for new
programs in computational biology, bioinformatics, and other
emerging fields. Mark Ellisman, Ph.D., director of the National
Center for Microscopy and Imaging Research of the University
of California-San Diego, reported on progress of the Bioinformatics
Research Networks (BIRN). The program currently links several
NCRR General Clinical Research Centers and Biotechnology Centers
with major computing facilities. The BIRN project has initially
focused on human brain research and on mouse physiology.
In a retrospective assessment, Louis Sullivan M.D., president
of Morehouse School of Medicine, discussed the Research Centers
in Minority Institutions (RCMI) program. From its inception
in 1985, the RCMI program has grown to include 18 institutions
and total funding for the program of $44 million in FY 2001.
The program has helped minority institutions substantially
increase their research programs, achieving nearly $200 million
in NIH awards in FY 2001. Fourteen of these institutions have
awarded more than 350 Ph.D.s in the life and biomedical sciences
to minority students over the last 5 years.
Information:
Stephen Heinig, Senior Research Fellow
AAMC Biomedical Health Sciences Research
sheinig@aamc.org
(202) 828-0488
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