NIH Earmarks $300,000 to Support Biological Assay Development in Sickle Cell Disease

NEW YORK, Jan. 3 (GenomeWeb News) - The National Institutes of Health will award $300,000 during 2005 to advance the development of biological assays related to sickle cell disease.

According to the NIH, the money is expected to be used to fund three new grants under a request for applications for projects the focus on the "development of scientifically and technologically robust screening assays that can be automated and used for the identification of compounds that can be utilized in both basic research and therapeutics development programs in sickle cell disease."

The proposed assay protocols "must employ reagents and readouts that can be used in the high-throughput molecular screen environments," the NIH said. "Funding will be provided to enable investigators to develop and transform promising assay protocols for sickle cell disease by demonstrating the responsiveness and robustness required for use in HTS."

Letters of intent from RFA responders are due March 25, and applications are due April 26. Additional details about the RFA can be found  here.