The National Institute of Health (NIH) has awarded 103 grants, worth about $200 million, to fund transformative biomedical research projects.
The High-Risk, High-Reward Research Program, which is supported by the Common Fund at the NIH, aims to support highly innovative scientists who propose visionary and broadly impactful meritorious behavioral and biomedical research projects.
High-Risk, High-Reward Research Program
The awards include the impact exposure to fracking might have on pregnancy and conception, how brain mechanisms influence memory performance, the neural basis of social bias and association using the female songbird as a model, and many others.
The support comes from the institutes, centers, and offices across NIH and will last for five years beginning in 2022, pending the availability of funds. Lawrence A. Tabak is responsible for performing the duties of the Director of the NIH.
The program supports investigators at each career stage who propose innovative research that, because of their inherent risk, may find it difficult in the traditional NIH peer-review process. This is despite their transformative potential, as per Medical & Life Sciences News.
Investigators who are looking to get support from the program are encouraged to think beyond traditional bounds and pursue trailblazing ideas in any area relevant to the NIH's mission to advance knowledge and enhance health. The Common Fund is responsible for overseeing programs that pursue major scientific opportunities and gaps throughout the research enterprise, are of significant importance to the institute, and require collaborations across the agency to succeed.
According to the NIH, the program manages four awards, including two that are specifically for researchers in the early stages of their careers. These include the NIH Director's Pioneer Award, the NIH Director's New Innovator Award, the NIH Director's Transformative Research Award, and the NIH Director's Early Independence Award.
Transformative Biomedical Research
The pioneer award, which was established in 2004, challenges investigators at all career levels to pursue new research directions and develop groundbreaking, high-impact approaches to a broad area of biomedical, behavioral, or social science.
On the other hand, the new innovator award was established in 2007 and supports unusually innovative research from early career investigators who are within a decade of their final degree or clinical residency, They must also have not yet received an NIH R01 or equivalent grant.
The third, the 2009 transformative research award, promotes cross-cutting, interdisciplinary approaches, and is welcoming to individuals and teams of investigators who propose research that could create or challenge existing paradigms.
The last, the early independence award, was established in 2011 and gives investigators the opportunity to support exceptional junior scientists who have recently received their doctoral degree or completed their medical residency to skip traditional post-doctoral training.
The recipients of the grants include five Caltech researchers, four of which are faculty members and one is a postdoctoral scholar. Professor of biology and biological engineering Long Cai received a pioneer award as he focuses on spatial genomics using super-resolution and live-cell microscopy in cells and organisms.
Assistant professor of biology and biological engineering and Heritage Medical Research Institute Investigator David Van Valen received a new innovator award for studies of the quantitative and physical principles underlying information processing in complex biological systems, Caltech reported.
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