September 30, 2004
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As part of the NIH Roadmap for Medical Research, more than $35 million will be awarded over five years to establish two National Technology Centers for Networks and Pathways. The primary goal of these centers is to develop new technologies to study the dynamics of molecular interactions within cells. The awards are being administered by the National Center for Research Resources, an NIH component that supports primary research to create and develop critical resources, models, and technologies.
Scientists today can use existing technologies to inventory cellular proteins and their interactions with other proteins and molecules. But current technologies are insufficient for studying the complex dynamics of these interactions. Understanding these dynamics will shed light on the normal functions of molecular systems within cells and their abnormal functions in disease. To address this gap in technology, the new National Technology Centers for Networks and Pathways will develop highly sensitive tools to measure quantities, activities, translocations, and interactions of molecules at the very short timescales that occur in cellular processes. Each center has a thematic focus and will be supporting a set of biological projects for testing the newly developed technologies.
"These tools will give us a completely new way of looking at complex biological processes, allowing us to actually watch them in action," said NIH Director Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D. "As the centers refine the technologies, these valuable resources will be made available to hundreds of investigators across the country who are working in every disease area."
The two National Technology Centers for Networks and Pathways are receiving initial funding for five years which may be renewed for an additional five years. In 2005, the NIH plans to fund several more Technology Centers. View RFA-RM-04-019. In addition, a Program Announcement is being planned to solicit investigator-initiated projects that would focus on specific biomedical research problems to leverage the new technologies, and strengthen interaction between the centers and the research community.
The NIH Roadmap is a series of far-reaching initiatives designed to transform the nation's medical research capabilities and speed the movement of research discoveries from the bench to the bedside. It provides a framework of the priorities the NIH must address in order to optimize its entire research portfolio and lays out a vision for a more efficient and productive system of medical research.
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