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News Releases: April - June 2002

Contents

• April
• May
• June

April

April 1, 2002: NIH and NSF Announce Joint Bioengineering Summer Institute Program

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) have announced a joint program to support the development and implementation of summer institutes in bioengineering and bioinformatics. The Program Solicitation describing this opportunity is NSF-02-109 and is titled "NIH-NSF Bioengineering and Bioinformatics Summer Institutes (BBSI) Program". The NSF and NIH have identified these two areas as important fields for 21st century biomedical research, and this joint effort is aimed at meeting anticipated human resource needs in bioengineering and bioinformatics. NIH participation is coordinated by the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering.

The NIH and NSF plan to issue joint awards to develop and conduct ten-week summer institutes for upper-level undergraduate (rising juniors and rising seniors) and lower-level graduate (entering first two years of graduate school) students majoring in the engineering, physical, computational, mathematics, and biological sciences to receive research and education experiences in bioengineering and bioinformatics. The purpose of this effort is to increase the number of young people considering careers in bioengineering and bioinformatics at the graduate level and beyond. For this solicitation, bioengineering and bioinformatics are defined in the broadest sense - the application of physical, engineering, and computational sciences to address biomedical problems. Innovative applications from all relevant areas are solicited.

Details of this program are available on the Internet at http://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=nsf02109. Applications in response to this initiative are due at the NSF on June 27, 2002. Letters of intent (optional) are due on May 26, 2002.

April 5, 2002: NIBIB Announces T32 and F32 Training Opportunities

The National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) is now offering F32 (Individual Postdoctoral Fellowships) and T32 (Institutional Research Training Grants) in bioengineering, biomedical imaging, and multi-disciplinary biomedical research related to the mission of the Institute. Specific details concerning the NIBIB F32 and T32 opportunities including application deadlines, review criteria, and contacts for inquiries were released on April 4 in the NIH Guide as notices NOT-EB-02-001 and NOT-EB-02-002, respectively.

The NIBIB T32 grants are aimed at developing or enhancing training opportunities for individuals selected by the institution who are training for careers in bioengineering, biomedical imaging, or multi-disciplinary research concerned with biology and medicine. Applications for pre-doctoral training are due at the NIH on May 10, September 10, and January 10 of each year. Applications for post-doctoral training will be accepted only on the January 10 deadline. Reviews will be conducted by a subcommittee of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences Biomedical Research and Training Review Group using criteria described in NIH Guide Notice NOT-EB-02-002.

The NIBIB F32 grants are aimed at supporting promising researchers who have the potential to become independent and productive investigators in fields related to the mission of the NIBIB (e.g., bioengineering, biomedical imaging, and multi-disciplinary research aimed at biomedical problems). Applications are due at the NIH on August 5, December 5, and April 5 of each year. Reviews will be conducted by the Center for Scientific Review using standard NIH F32 review criteria.

Questions concerning program or review issues for the solicitations should be directed to the contacts given in the NIH Guide notices.

April 8, 2002: NIBIB Announces Award of First Research Grants

Official NIH News Release Adobe PDF (77.9K)

The National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB), the newest of the NIH funding institutes, will award its first research grants this week to the following institutions: Yale University School of Medicine, University of California at San Francisco and Tribofilm Research, Inc. of Raleigh, NC. The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke will join the NIBIB in supporting the Yale University research.

The Yale University project, which will receive $1.4 million in total costs this year, will be headed by Dr. James S. Duncan, who is developing magnetic resonance functional and spectroscopic imaging techniques to study and treat neocortical epilepsy. This grant is part of the NIH Bioengineering Research Partnership program which encourages multi-disciplinary teams of biomedical and quantitative scientists to work on biomedical research problems. This is the first competing research project grant application to be awarded by the NIBIB.

The University of California at San Francisco Cardiovascular Research Institute will receive $330,000 in total costs this year as the first competing renewal research grant awarded by the NIBIB. The project, headed by Dr. Alan S. Verkman, will be developing new optical methods for imaging cellular architecture and dynamics.

The first small business innovation research award was issued to Tribofilm Research, Inc. of Raleigh, NC in the amount of $420,000 in total costs for this year. This project will be headed by Dr. Paul M. Vernon to develop new silicone-free, low-friction coatings for syringes. This project is timely due to the increasing interest in developing alternatives to silicone-based lubricants which are typically used in medical devices.

The NIBIB was established in December of 2000 and received official grant-making authority with the passage of the FY2002 Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act (P.L. 107-116) on January 10, 2002. The NIBIB supports research which will improve health by promoting fundamental discoveries, design and development, and translation and assessment of technological capabilities in biomedical imaging and bioengineering, enabled by relevant areas of information science, physics, chemistry, mathematics, materials science, and computer sciences.

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May

May 7, 2002: Dr. Roderic Pettigrew Named First Director of the NIBIB

Official NIH News Release Adobe PDF (73K)

Ruth L. Kirschstein, M.D., acting director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), today announced the appointment of Roderic I. Pettigrew, Ph.D., M.D., as the first permanent director of the NIH's National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB). Dr. Pettigrew is currently Professor of Radiology, Medicine (Cardiology) and Bioengineering and Director of the Emory Center for MR Research, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia. Dr. Pettigrew is expected to begin his appointment in late August or early September 2002.

"I am delighted that Dr. Pettigrew will be assuming the directorship of the NIH's newest institute," said Dr. Kirschstein. "The NIBIB is the only institute at NIH dedicated to biomedical technologies, and we believe that this new direction is truly a reflection of where science is today, and where it will take us tomorrow. Dr. Pettigrew, a recognized expert in the development and application of bioimaging techniques to patient care, will provide dynamic leadership in our efforts to apply the principles of engineering and imaging science to biological processes, disorders, and diseases."

Dr. Pettigrew will oversee the institute's federally-mandated budget for basic and applied research and training. The NIBIB was established in December 2000 by the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering Establishment Act (H.R. 1795). The NIBIB's mission is to improve health by supporting fundamental research in bioengineering and bioimaging science and transferring the results to medical applications. The NIBIB also coordinates ongoing efforts of NIH centers and institutes and exchanges information with other federal agencies. The NIBIB awarded its first grants in April 2002.

"I am honored and privileged to be joining the NIH at this important moment when the opportunity to develop new technologies in medicine has never been greater," said Dr. Pettigrew. "To combat disease more effectively, the hope is to develop new and emerging technologies that can detect the disease process at its earliest stage, when therapies are most efficacious. I and the NIBIB staff look forward to working with the other NIH institutes and centers, the research community, and the public to achieve this vision. Working together, we can increase the understanding of how advances in biomedical imaging and bioengineering can be applied to improve public health. We will use the technological advances and this knowledge to help conquer disease."

Dr. Pettigrew is known for his pioneering work at Emory University involving dynamic three-dimensional imaging of the heart using magnetic resonance (MRI). He also was co-developer of the first computer software package specifically designed for cardiac imaging using MRI.

Dr. Pettigrew graduated cum laude from Morehouse College with a B.S. in physics, where he was a Merrill Scholar; has an M.S. in nuclear medicine and engineering from Rennselear Polytechnic Institute; and a Ph.D. in applied radiation physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he was a Whitaker Harvard-MIT Health Science Scholar. After completing his Ph.D., he received an M.D. from the University of Miami School of Medicine in an accelerated two-year program. He did his internship and residency in internal medicine at Emory University and completed a residency in nuclear medicine at the University of California, San Diego. Dr. Pettigrew spent a year as a clinical research scientist with Picker International, the first manufacturer of MRI equipment. In 1985, he joined Emory as a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Fellow with an interest in non-invasive cardiac imaging.

Dr. Pettigrew, a member of Phi Beta Kappa, is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Bennie Award (Benjamin E. Mays) for Achievement in 1989. Also in 1989, when the Radiological Society of North America celebrated its 75th Diamond anniversary scientific meeting, the largest medical meeting in the world, it selected Dr. Pettigrew to give the keynote Eugene P. Pendergrass New Horizons Lecture. In 1990, he was named the Most Distinguished Alumnus of the University of Miami. He has served as chairman of the Diagnostic Radiology Study Section, Center for Scientific Review, NIH, and has received multiple grants from the NIH for his research on cardiac imaging. He is on numerous editorial boards, scientific societies' Boards of Directors, and is a frequent invited lecturer at international scientific meetings. Dr. Pettigrew has also been elected a Fellow of the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology.

The NIBIB is one of 27 components of the National Institutes of Health, the premier federal agency for biomedical research. More information on NIBIB can be found at: http://www.nibib.nih.gov.

May 17, 2002: New NIH T32 Training Grant Announcement Released - NIBIB is Participating

A new NIH-wide program announcement (PA) for NRSA Institutional Training Grants (T32) was released in the NIH Guide as PA-02-019 on May 16. This program announcement supercedes prior NIH-wide T32 announcements and provides details concerning NRSA and T32 program objectives, eligibility requirements, review criteria, budget requirements, and application preparation and submittal procedures. The NIBIB is participating in this PA with the following deadlines for applications to be received at the NIH - January 10, May 10, and September 10 for predoctoral applications and January 10 only for postdoctoral applications. NIBIB-specific details concerning the Institute's participation in the T32 program are given in NIH Guide Notice NOT-EB-02-002 which was released on April 4, 2002. Specifications contained in this notice are still applicable.

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June

June 14, 2002: NIH and NIBIB Directors To Speak at July IEEE/NIH Biomedical Imaging Conference

Dr. Elias Zerhouni, the Director of the National Institutes of Health, and Dr. Roderic Pettigrew, Director of the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB), are scheduled to speak at the IEEE/NIH International Conference on Biomedical Imaging which is scheduled for July 7-10 at the Ritz Carlton Hotel (22nd Street) in Washington, DC. Dr. Zerhouni will speak at the conference opening reception on Sunday evening, July 7, and will provide perspectives on biomedical imaging research and multi-disciplinary research at the NIH. Dr. Pettigrew will speak at the opening program session of the conference on Monday morning, July 8, and will address the NIBIB's interests in biomedical imaging and trans-disciplinary collaboration. 

June 20, 2002: NIBIB and CIRREF Announce Interventional Oncology Conference - September 18-19

The National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) in conjunction with the Cardiovascular and Interventional Radiology Research and Education Foundation (CIRREF), the National Cancer Institute (NCI), the American Cancer Society (ACS), the American College of Radiology Imaging Network (ACRIN), and the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM), are sponsoring a basic and clinical science research conference on interventional oncology. The Interventional Oncology: From Benchtop to Bedside Conference will take place on September 18-19, 2002, in Tyson’s Corner, Virginia. The primary goal of the conference is to provide a forum for clinicians, basic scientists, physician-scientists, and trainees from academia, private practice, government, and industry to be exposed to cutting edge basic science research as it pertains to the many clinical areas and therapies in which they are involved. The conference is intended to provide an opportunity for cross-fertilization between researchers in interventional radiology, functional imaging, oncology, basic science, clinical science and related disciplines. The program is comprised of four modules: 1) tumor biology; 2) animal models; 3) molecular and functional imaging; 4) image guided interventions. A secondary goal of the conference is to stimulate an interest in research among trainees. 

June 26, 2002: BECON Conducts Symposium on Sensors in Biological Research and Medicine

A symposium on "Sensors in Biological Research and Medicine" was conducted on June 24-25 at the Natcher Conference Center on the NIH Main Campus in Bethesda, Maryland. This symposium was the fifth in a series of annual conferences coordinated by the NIH Bioengineering Consortium (BECON) and was aimed at identifying opportunities, challenges, needs, and directions associated with using sensors in biomedical research and clinical applications. Over 500 attendees participated in the two-day meeting which included plenary presentations on clinical and technological aspects of sensors in biomedicine, ten topically-focused breakout sessions, over 80 poster presentations, and a session on Federal funding opportunities for sensor research and development.

Extramural co-chairs for the meeting were Drs. Warren Grundfest (UCLA) and Milan Mrksich (University of Chicago), and the intramural co-chairs were Drs. Joan Harmon (NIBIB) and Maren Laughlin (NIDDK). A summary report is in preparation and will be posted on the BECON Web site upon completion.

Planning for the BECON 2003 symposium is underway, and preliminary information will be available in the near future. This meeting is tentatively scheduled for June 23-24, 2003.

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