NIGMS readies pilot program for grants

Jon Lorsch, director of the NIH's National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), told the U.S. House Appropriations Committee that a new pilot program could make the agency's nearly $2 billion granting process more efficient and introduce a new funding mechanism for early-stage investigators.

NIGMS will begin the Maximizing Investigators' Research Award (MIRA) program in FY16, with $60 million allotted for up to 100 five-year awards. Peter Preusch, program director at NIGMS's division of cell biology and biophysics, told BioCentury he expects the program to begin regardless of budget constraints. ...