|
The National Institute of Neurological
Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) - in collaboration with the
National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities
(NCMHD), the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR),
and the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) - supports
an innovative funding mechanism called Specialized Center
Cooperative Agreement (U54) Programs. The purpose of these
programs is to augment and strengthen the research capabilities
of faculty, students, and fellows at minority institutions
by supporting the development of new, or enhancement of
ongoing, basic and clinical neuroscience research programs.
The Specialized Center Cooperative Agreements strive to
meet the following programmatic goals:
- To assist
in infrastructure development leading to
well- established, state-of-the-art
neuroscience research programs;
- To foster innovative
and effective partnerships and collaboration
between minority institutions and established neuroscience
laboratories at federal and non-federal research
institutions.
- To create, support
and maintain a stimulating academic and
intellectual milieu to inspire and prepare students
and fellows to pursue research careers
in neuroscience; and
- To provide
support to develop and sustain competitively funded
neuroscience research projects and programs.
The first Specialized
Center Cooperative Agreement was awarded to the Morehouse
School of Medicine in 1994 and fully funded in 1996. Success
in the scientific accomplishments of this program and
interest from academic institutions affiliated with the
NCRR-supported Research Centers in Minority Institutions
programs led to the creation of the Specialized Neuroscience
Research Program (SNRP) initiative in 1999. There are
currently 11 Specialized Center Cooperative Agreement
grantees affiliated with a consortium of 32 collaborating
neuroscience research institutions. The current list of
University of Hawaii (2), Howard University College of
Medicine, the Universidad Central del Caribe Puerto Rico,
the University of Texas at San Antonio, the University
of Alaska Fairbanks, Meharry Medical College, and Hunter
College.
|
