Volume 10, number 11: april 1, 2004
FEDERAL NEWS ARCHIVE
DHHS Announces Creation of Biosecurity Advisory Board
The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) announced the creation of the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity. The NSABB will be part of a government-wide effort to put in place improved biosecurity measures for classes of legitimate biological research that could be misused to threaten public health or national security—so-called “dual use” research.
The NSABB will advise all federal departments and agencies that conduct
or support life sciences research that could fall into the dual use category.
The National Institutes of Health will manage the NSABB. The NSABB will
advise on and recommend specific strategies for the efficient and effective
oversight of federally conducted or supported potential dual-use biological
research taking into consideration both national security concerns and
the needs of the research community. Further information is available
online. See also UNC-Chapel
Hill Nominations for National Board for Biosecurity.
Contact: Tom Cors
Tel: 843-0052
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Change in NICHD/ED/NSF Interagency Education Research Initiative (IERI)
The Interagency Education Research Initiative (IERI), an interagency effort comprised of the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences, and the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), will be parting ways after five years of collaborative partnership. Initiated by a 1997 presidential report, the IERI program sought to conduct interdisciplinary research in mathematics, reading, and the sciences to improve effective learning. However, the initiative failed to produce desired scaled-up investigations in pre-K-12 education. While collaboration may still continue, for now each federal agency will focus upon its own projects and research and will issue separate solicitations.
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NSTC Report: Business Relationships Between Federal Funding Agencies and the Research Community
The National Science and Technology Council's Committee on Science approved for further action ten issues that were recognized through public comment as problem areas in the business relationships between federal funding agencies and those performing government-sponsored research, according to a March 10, 2004, article in Washington Fax. Other issues deemed important by the research community, including the cap on administrative F&A and cost accounting standards, will be addressed by the White House Office of Management and Budget and agency heads. The issues for further action include:
- finding a way for agencies to acknowledge coinvestigators on grants
- developing ways to ensure the stability and predictability of funding support for midsize facilities and instrumentation
- finding support for graduate and postdoctoral students in the form of salaries, stipends and benefits
- removing bureaucracy and paperwork obstacles to collaboration
- standardizing procedures for progress and financial reporting on research projects
- adoption of the Federal Demonstration Project model subagreement templates
- development of a federal-wide policy for conflicts of interest
- and ending the practice in which compliant research universities working as subrecipients on each other's grants are required to monitor each other.
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Department of Education Updates its Forecast of FY 2004 Discretionary Grants
As of March 19, 2004, the Department of Education updated its forecast of funding opportunities under the discretionary grant programs for FY 2004. READ MORE
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NIH Obesity Initiatives for FY05
During the N.C. Society of Research Administrators Annual Conference last March, Dorothy Duke, chief grants management officer at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, announced the following NIH obesity initiatives for FY05:
- Prevention and treatment of childhood obesity in primary care settings ($3.5 million)
- Site-specific approaches to prevention and treatment of pediatric obesity ($3.5 million)
- Neurobiological basis of obesity ($6 million)
- Bioengineering approaches for prevention and treatment of overweight and obesity ($2 million)
- Obesity and the built environment program ($1 million)
- Obesity clinical research center ($6 million)
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HRSA Announced the Cancellation of Eight Grant Opportunities That Were Initially Published
Based on final fiscal year 2004 appropriations and a redirection of priorities, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) withdrew the following programs and announcements from FY2004 competition. READ MORE
- Bioterrorism Training and Curriculum Development
- Radiation Exposure Screening and Education Program
- National Health Center Technical Assistance Cooperative Agreements
- Telehealth Resource Centers Cooperative Agreement Program
- Early Intervention Services Planning Grants
- Maternal and Child Health Minority Research Infrastructure Support Program
- Partnership for Information and Communication Cooperative Agreement Program
- Best Practices to Increase Organ Donation
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NIAID Funding News
NIAID Funding News, the online newsletter of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), provides new initiatives, funding opportunities and resources, tips, and information on policy and programs. The newsletter often announces RFA topics before they have actually gone to council. READ MORE
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AAAS Forum on Science and Technology Policy
The American Association for the Advancement of Science Forum on Science and Technology Policy will be held April 22-23, 2004, in Washington, D.C. READ MORE