BlackboardFlorida Biomedical Research Grants For Fiscal Year 2010-2011 Announced
Assistant Professor, Chemical & Biomedical Engineering
Congratulations to Dr. Guan for his new project "Array-Based Fiber FISH for Genetic Analysis of Lung Cancer" from the James and Ester King Florida Biomedical Research Grant Program. He was the only FSU researcher to win one of the Florida Biomedical Research grant awards this year.
The Florida Department of Health is pleased to announce that 73 Florida scientists will receive biomedical research grants totaling over $45.5* million for projects beginning July 1, 2010. These grants are awarded on merit following a competition and are for innovative research seeking new insights into the prevention, diagnosis, treatment and/or cure of cancer and tobacco-related diseases. Funding comes primarily from taxes collected from the sale of tobacco products. Tobacco remains the single leading cause of preventable death in the U.S. It is predicted that as many as 369,000 Florida children will face premature death in the future as a result of tobacco use or exposure. Awards range from post-doctoral fellowships for new scientists to complex team science efforts involving three or more synergistic projects led by senior investigators, and run the gamut from basic biomedical science to clinical trials of potential treatments. Additionally, $1.7 million has been set aside for technology transfer grants, which can lead to the commercial development of discoveries for direct patient care. Applications for these awards will be accepted on an ongoing basis beginning in mid-June.
Selected projects came from 332 grant applications submitted in February in response to eight calls for grant applications issued the previous December. Applications were submitted from 22 different universities or research institutes and the total funding requested exceeded $287 million. Applications were evaluated by peer reviewers and then ranked within categories. Between February and late April, the Lytmos Group, Inc. arranged scientific peer reviews of each application by independent subject matter experts from outside Florida. On May 18, 2010, the Biomedical Research Advisory Council met to review the merit scores and make funding recommendations to the State Surgeon General, who makes the final funding decisions. Of 146 applications submitted to the James and Esther King Biomedical Research Program for tobacco-related projects, 42 grants were issued totaling $24.0 million. Of the 186 applications submitted to the Bankhead-Coley Cancer Research Program, 35 grants were issued totaling $21.5 million. A complete list of projects selected for award is included below.
More information about the Calls for Grant Applications, along with other Program information is available at www.floridabiomed.com. The Lytmos Group can be contacted via e-mail at programsupport@floridabiomed.com and the Florida Biomedical Research Programs' e-mail is fbrp@doh.state.fl.us.
* Research Project Grants (RPGs) are awarded for 5 years: the first 3 years will be funded from the FY10-11 budget and remaining 2 years will come from the FY13-14 budget subject to the availability of funds.
