ARLINGTON, Va., Sept. 27, 2004 -- The Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the National Institutes of Health will build on Whitaker Foundation programs by joining together to support graduate research training that combines biological and physical sciences and engineering.

HHMI will award as many as 10 three-year grants of up to $1 million each to support the creation of these interdisciplinary programs. The National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengienering will extend that support another five years through peer-reviewed institutional training grants.

Building on work begun by Whitaker, the National Science Foundation and the Burrough's Wellcome Fund, HHMI and NIH have created a new model for graduate training that will prepare students to work across disciplinary lines to solve complex problems in biomedicine.

The first competition will open up in October to institutions in the United States that offer doctoral degrees in the biological sciences. From this competition, up to 10 awards will be made by HHMI to develop new interdisciplinary programs. The NIH will sustain these programs once they are in place.

"We're looking for training programs that provide strategies to eliminate or lower barriers between seemingly disparate scientific disciplines," said Peter J. Bruns, HHMI vice president for grants and special programs.

HHMI Program Announcement

Contact: Jennifer Donovan, HHMI