Chicago Trust Awards $25M-$50M for Systems Bio, Proteomics Research at Chicago Biomedical Consortium

NEW YORK, Feb. 9 (GenomeWeb News) - The Searle Funds at the Chicago Community Trust has awarded $5 million to the Chicago Biomedical Consortium and plans to continue annual donations in that amount for at least five years, said the consortium today.

The grant is designed to "support and stimulate innovative multi-institutional collaborations in research and education," said the consortium, which focuses on systems biology and proteomics.

The funds will be used to recruit faculty members in the areas of proteomics and bioinformatics as well as to provide grants, develop infrastructure and educational programs, and foster relationships with Chicago industry. 

Under the agreement, the program will be reviewed in its fourth year and possibly renewed for an additional five years.

The CBC was established in 2002 by scientists at Northwestern University, University of Chicago, and the University of Illinois at Chicago. As GenomeWeb News reported last January, the consortium received $2 million from the SearleTrusts to acquire a Fourier transform mass spectrometer.