A Medical Device Daily

Elias Zerhouni, MD, director of the National Institutes of Health, reported a special program to fund new investigators who propose “highly innovative” research projects that could be characterized, he said, as having “an exceptionally great impact on biomedical or behavioral science.”

The NIH Director’s New Innovator Award offers grants of up to $1.5 million in direct costs over five years.

The application period opens April 25 and closes on May 22. NIH said it expects to make at least 14 awards in September.

New investigators who have not yet obtained an NIH R01 or similar grant are eligible to apply. Applicants must hold an independent research position at an institution in the U.S. and must have received a doctoral degree or completed a medical internship and residency in 1997 or later.

“New investigators are the future of science, and innovative ideas are its lifeblood. This flagship program underscores NIH’s commitment to supporting these two critical elements of the research enterprise. The New Innovator Award, funded through the NIH Roadmap Common Fund, complements longstanding activities in both areas at the NIH level and at its institutes and centers,” said Zerhouni.

He added: “We want proposals in a broad range of scientific areas relevant to the NIH mission and from a diverse pool of applicants. We’re shortening the application and emphasizing the significance of the research, what makes the approach exceptionally innovative, how the applicant will address challenges and risks, and the applicant’s qualifications for the grant. We aren’t requiring applicants to present preliminary data, although we’ll allow it if they choose to do so,” he added.

Application instructions can be accessed at http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-RM-07-009.html.