Federal grants channel more than $40 million to Center research

Hutchinson Center scientists have been awarded 60 National Institutes of Health research grants totaling nearly $40.4 million under the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009, as of Oct. 1.

The individual awards range from $33,596 to $4.8 million and benefit every level of researcher, from established principal investigators to predoctoral graduate students. A wide range of scientific subjects is covered by the grants, including developing assays to measure proteins expressed in cancer, cancer economics (see related GO grant article) and cord blood transplantation.

“It’s a testament to the quality of the science we do and to the scientists who conduct our research that the Hutchinson Center was so successful in obtaining this level of stimulus funding,” Center President and Director Dr. Lee Hartwell said.

Hartwell said the funds aid one of the key goals of the Recovery Act: job retention and creation.

“We estimate that for every $100,000 in grant funding that the Center receives, 2.3 jobs are retained or created internally and in the community by our suppliers,” he said, based on internal and NIH economic impact studies. “This means that the stimulus funds we received will retain and create about 920 jobs.”

The Clinical Research Division’s Dr. Mandy Paulovich was awarded the Center’s single largest stimulus grant at $4.8 million. She’ll use the award to fund a pilot study to assess the feasibility and scalability of a human proteome detection and measurement project.

The funding comes from the $787 billion stimulus bill that was signed into law by President Obama in February. The bill provides $10.4 billion in funding for the National Institutes of Health, available for two years.

To learn more, read the Hutchinson Center news release on the awards.