NIH Awards Instrumentation Grants

The National Center for Research Resources at NIH has announced $21.5 million in grants to 14 institutions for high-end research instruments. The grants will be used to purchase cutting-edge equipment to advance biomedical research on the underlying causes of human disease.

"The High-End Instrumentation Program provides numerous investigators access to essential equipment, often benefiting entire research communities and dramatically advancing their research projects," says Barbara M. Alving, acting director of NCRR.

Individual grants are up to $2 million, and each institution must have three or more NIH-funded investigators who will use the instruments. Matching funds are not required for HEI grants, but the receiving institutions must provide building renovations, necessary technical personnel, and service contracts for maintenance and operation.

Among the awards is $543,750 to Stanford University for an ultra-high-throughput genome-sequencing system for microbial genomes; $1.5 million to the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, for a hybrid, 12-tesla quadrupole/trap-Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometer for characterization of nucleic acids; and $2.0 million to the University of Virginia for an 800-MHz nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer for the study of membrane proteins and biopolymers.