NIH Opens Research Hospital to Outside Scientists
Thursday, March 13, 2014
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH NIH News
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) http://www.nichd.nih.gov
Embargoed for Release: Thursday, March 13, 2014
CONTACT: Robert Bock, 301-496-5134
e-mail:bockr@mail.nih.gov
Kerri Childress, 301-496-5133
e-mail:Kerri.Childress@nih.gov
NIH OPENS RESEARCH HOSPITAL TO OUTSIDE SCIENTISTS
New program tackles disease on many fronts
Ten projects that will enable non-government researchers to conduct clinical research at the National Institutes of Health's Clinical Center in Bethesda, Md. were announced today. Through these three-year, renewable awards of up to $500,000 per year, scientists from institutions across the United States will collaborate with government scientists in a highly specialized hospital setting. The NIH Clinical Center is the largest hospital in the nation devoted entirely to clinical research.
"This initiative will provide top scientists outside NIH the opportunity to utilize the sizable resources of our clinical center," said NIH Director Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D. "The collaborative process they undertake with researchers here on campus will set a framework for important biomedical discoveries and needed treatments."
NIH funds scientists outside of its organization, called extramural researchers, and government scientists who work for NIH directly, called intramural researchers. Although intramural scientists often collaborate with scientists outside the NIH campus, the new grants now will provide extramural researchers from academia and industry with direct access to the broad resources of the NIH Clinical Center. Outside scientists will be able to test promising laboratory discoveries using emerging technologies and tools and collaborate on clinical protocols, often for extraordinarily rare diseases, in partnership with NIH investigators to help advance disease diagnosis, treatment and prevention.