Eight US Institutions Awarded $350M for Biodefense RCEs

NEW YORK, Sept. 5 (GenomeWeb News) - US Health and Human Services secretary Tommy Thompson announced yesterday that grants totaling $350 million over five years had been awarded to establish eight Regional Centers of Excellence for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases at institutions across the country.

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases will administer the grants, which were awarded to: DukeUniversity, Harvard Medical School, New York State Department of Health, University of Chicago, University of Maryland, University of Texas Medical Branch, University of Washington, and WashingtonUniversity in St. Louis.

The grants stipulate that the institutions use genomics, proteomics, and bioinformatics, among other biological methods, to develop methods of dealing with agents of potential bioterrorist attacks - such as anthrax and smallpox - and emerging novel diseases, such as SARS. The institutions must also provide facilities and services in the case of a national biodefense emergency.

Proteomics will likely play a large role at the RCEs, as reported in ProteoMonitor last month.