The National Institutes of Health (NIH) will accept applications through Dec. 1 for its extramural Loan Repayment Programs (LRPs). The programs repay up to $35,000 of educational loan debt annually for individuals who commit to conducting at least two years of qualified biomedical or behavioral research at a nonprofit institution of their choice. The annual application cycle includes five extramural LRPs: Clinical Research, Pediatric Research, Health Disparities Research, Contraception and Infertility Research, and Clinical Research for Individuals from Disadvantaged Backgrounds.

Each year, some 1,600 research scientists benefit from the more than $70 million NIH invests in their careers through the extramural LRPs. Approximately 40 percent of all new LRP applications are funded. For more details and to apply, go to www.lrp.nih.gov.

T-R01 Funding Program

Applications Being Accepted

NIH has also announced it intends to invest more than $250 million over the next five years to foster bold and creative investigator-initiated research through a new transformative R01 (T-R01) program.

NIH will support T-R01 program goals through original studies that will:

• Forge the synthesis of new paradigms for biomedical or behavioral sciences.

• Reflect an exceptional level of creativity in proposing bold and ground-breaking approaches to fundamental problems.

• Promote radical changes in a field of study with a profound impact in other scientific areas.

T-R01 grants will be evaluated by new procedures being piloted by the NIH Center for Scientific Review (CSR) that are distinct from the traditional NIH peer-review process. For more information on T-R01 grants, go to www.nihroadmap.nih.gov/grants/index.asp.

Writing a Competitive Grant Proposal

January 30–31, 2009 • RSNA Headquarters, Oak Brook, Ill.
Application Deadline—December 15

Registrations are being accepted for the second Writing a Competitive Grant Proposal program, designed for researchers in radiology, radiation oncology, nuclear medicine and related sciences who are interested in actively pursuing federal funding.

Limited seating is available for this 1½-day intermediate-level program. The course combines didactic and small group interactive sessions to help radiologic researchers understand and apply the key components of writing a competitive grant proposal. Topics to be covered include the NIH grant review process, developing specific aims and funding opportunities.

Guided by a faculty of leading researchers with extensive experience in all aspects of grant applications and funding, the program will focus on developing realistic expectations and provide tools for getting started. Faculty includes G. Scott Gazelle, M.D., Ph.D., of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, and King C. Li, M.D., of Methodist Hospital in Houston.

The course fee is $175. Registration forms can be found at RSNA.org/CGP. Contact Fiona Miller at 1-630-590-7741 or fmiller@rsna.org for further information.

Bioengineering & Imaging Research

Opportunities Workshop 6 (BIROW VI)

January 15–16, 2009 • Bethesda North Convention Center, Maryland

BIROW workshops identify and explore new opportunities for basic science research and engineering development in biomedical imaging, as well as related diagnosis and therapy. The workshop will provide information and ideas for new investigators, support accelerated development of biomedical imaging as a scientific discipline and facilitate coordinated imaging research. RSNA is co-sponsoring this workshop. For more information, go to www.birow.org.