Dental research to benefit from federal stimulus package
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Posted Feb. 23, 2009 |
By Craig Palmer Bethesda, Md.—"Stay tuned" for a $100 million infusion of economic stimulus funds, Dr. Lawrence Tabak told the dental research community.
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Dr. Tabak
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Dr. Tabak heads the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, one of the smaller-budget National Institutes of Health with an annual appropriation of less than $400 million but source of a lion's share of the nation's dental research dollars. He was informing dental researchers and dental school representatives about an infusion of an additional $100 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
"It would be stunning if you and your colleagues don't find appropriate opportunities," he told his Feb. 19 teleconference audience. "There will be many opportunities for the research community. And don't think everyone's going to apply and [you] don't have a chance. If you don't apply, you're not going to get the grant.
"Rest assured our uppermost goal is to make sure these resources are spent wisely," said Dr. Tabak. "We cannot presume, presuppose or expect that this is an increase in NIH base level funding. We are planning how best to use these funds quickly and wisely. We will use the money to support grants, jobs and ongoing discovery to benefit human health in each of your respective local communities, your universities. There's a multiplier effect of spending in your community."
The stimulus law, enacted Feb. 17, is intended to pump up the economy, and some $10.4 billion will go to the NIH. Dr. Tabak, NIDCR director. is also acting principal deputy director of the National Institutes of Health. The NIH has to spend the stimulus money within two years and is under pressure to award research grantees sooner rather than later.
"The infusion fund gives the oral health community the opportunity to further evaluate the scientific bases and provide answers to clinically relevant questions on an array of complex oral and general health issues," said Dr. Daniel M. Meyer, ADA senior vice president for science and professional affairs.
"It gives the research community the impetus, tools and resources to set into motion NIDCR's new strategic plan in a significant way," said Dr. Meyer. "The stimulus package gives far more leverage to the immediate clinical research needs facing the practicing community as highlighted in the ADA research agenda as well as those from other health care organizations. This is a highly positive step towards advancing the quality of care through sound, unbiased research for the benefit of the patients we serve." (The NIDCR is in the process of updating the strategic plan posted on the NIDCR Web site  .
A primary objective of the stimulus package is job creation and retention. Dr. Christopher H. Fox, executive director of the International & American Associations for Dental Research, expects a "win-win" payoff in that regard.
"The act is all about jobs, jobs, jobs, and the investment in medical research is no different," he told the ADA News. "Yes, the act definitely will create and retain jobs from lab assistants to research fellows, to statisticians, to junior investigators, to senior scientists. Congress and the president have recognized that an investment in medical research not only creates jobs and economic activity but also has the downstream benefit of improving the health of the American people."
The education community is also ready to embrace the stimulus. "The American Dental Education Association is urging all academic dental institutions to encourage their top scientists and grant writers to respond immediately to the many new funding opportunities presented in the ARRA," said Dr. Richard W. Valachovic, ADEA executive director.
"This new funding will greatly impact the ability of academic dental institutions to strengthen their research capacity and fulfill the ARRA's primary objectives. A robust response from the academic dental community is critical to the future of the dental research enterprise and will demonstrate to Congress and the NIH that it can compete for funds and that it is a leader in the field of science."
In addition to roughly $100 million for the NIDCR, there are competitive opportunities for the dental research community from other NIH entities for equipment funding and new "challenge grants," the latter on the table for certain science or public health research showing potential for significant advance in two years.
The NIDCR will look at fiscal year 2008 grant applications "for which we did not have sufficient funds to support and where it is reasonable to assume progress in two years," Dr. Tabak said. Supplementation of currently funded research and applications from new investigators are also in the mix, details to follow as the NIH, the Department of Health and Human Services and the White House work them out.
"We are cognizant of time sensitivity," Dr. Tabak said. "We need to do these things in a measured, deliberative way."
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