Recovery Act boosts global health

March - April, 2009 | Volume 8, Issue 2

Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the Fogarty International Center will receive about $17 million in direct appropriations to award over two years.

"We are extremely grateful to President Obama and Congress for recognizing the economic and health impacts of research and providing Recovery Act funding to allow us to expand our programs," said Fogarty International Center Director, Dr. Roger I. Glass.

"Through this support, we will increase U.S. competitiveness in global health, accelerate the pace of scientific discovery and preserve and create jobs, particularly among early career scientists who will become the global health leaders of the future."

Fogarty plans to invest about 40 percent of its ARRA funds in new awards that were previously deemed meritorious in peer review but were not funded due to lack of resources.

In addition, the Center intends to award about 55 percent of its ARRA funding in administrative supplements that will preserve and create jobs, as well as enhance current projects. A significant portion of this funding will support fellowships for early-career U.S. scientists to encourage the next generation of global health leaders.

The Center is also using the supplements to encourage the incorporation of information and communication technologies into its programs to enhance their quality, effectiveness and reach, as well as to strengthen the collaborative aspects of international teams.

In keeping with the Center's normal funding ratio, about 29 percent of the ARRA awards will be research project grants.

Fogarty intends to use the remaining funds to support research and development contracts and to secure the administrative staffing necessary to ensure robust ARRA reporting and evaluation needs are met.

Also, Fogarty is participating in the trans-NIH Challenge Grant program that will be funded with centrally managed recovery funds. Fogarty's Challenge topics include chronic diseases, climate change, stigma and several related to bioethics and ICT.

NIH has also requested that each Institute and Center develop one or more Signature Initiative. These are currently being reviewed and will be announced soon.

Learn more about Fogarty and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

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