Copyright 2007 Crain Communications All Rights Reserved Crain's Cleveland Business
April 9, 2007
SECTION: COVER STORY; Pg. 1
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HEADLINE: NIH ups grants given to area institutions; Case, Clinic and others submitting more proposals to offset fed agency's flat budget
BYLINE: SHANNON MORTLAND
BODY:
As
other universities and academic medical centers grapple with cuts in
research dollars coming from the National Institutes of Health,
Cleveland institutions are bucking the trend.
Case
Western Reserve University, the Cleveland Clinic, MetroHealth Medical
Center, University Hospitals Case Medical Center and the Louis Stokes
Cleveland Veterans Affairs Medical Center all have increased the amount
in NIH research grants they have received in recent years.
``Even though there have been tough times ... we seem to be doing quite well,'' said Paul DiCorleto, chairman of the Clinic's Lerner Research Institute.
In
the last three years, the NIH budget has remained relatively flat at
$28 billion, causing fewer grant proposals to be financed nationwide.
But in an effort to at least maintain the level of support they
received in previous years for their research efforts, local
institutions have applied for more grants from NIH and have embarked on
more collaborative research initiatives. They also have boosted their
efforts to secure money from foundations and private industry sources,
such as drug companies.
Case and its
affiliates received new NIH grants totaling $131 million in the fiscal
year that ended June 30, 2006. Already in the current fiscal year,
which doesn't end until June 30, Case and its affiliates have received
$160 million in new NIH grants, a 22% increase from last fiscal year's
total, said Eric Cottington, associate vice president for research at
Case.
Case's affiliates include University
Hospitals Case Medical Center, the Clinic's Lerner College of Medicine
at Case, MetroHealth and the veterans hospital.
Dr.
Cottington notes that the number of grant proposals Case submitted also
has risen nearly 11%, to 792 so far in fiscal 2007 from 715 in all of
fiscal 2006.
``One of the ways to
compensate for flat funding is to submit more proposals,'' Dr.
Cottington said. ``If we submit more proposals, maybe we'll get more
awards.''
Total NIH awards, including
renewed grants, for Case and its affiliates will level off at about
$250 million in the current fiscal year, Dr. Cottington said. Total NIH
awards to those entities last year equaled $248 million, he said.
Phil
Cola, vice president for research and technology at UH Case Medical
Center, said his hospital has grown its NIH grant support by about 30%
over the last five years.
``Despite
increased competition and declining growth of the NIH budget, Case and
(UH Case Medical Center) are still growing, compared to other academic
medical centers, the amount of NIH dollars that come to Case,'' he
said. ``We're holding our own and maybe a little bit more.''
The
Clinic also seems to be commanding a larger part of the NIH budget. In
the federal fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, 2005, the Clinic was
awarded $83 million in NIH grants, up 13% from the $73 million it
received the year before, Dr. DiCorleto said. In fiscal 2006,
that figure rose 3% to $86 million, he said. He expects the Clinic to
receive an additional 2% to 3% in NIH support this fiscal year.
Spirit of collaboration
While his researchers also have been applying for more grants, Dr. DiCorleto
said they're also benefiting from new collaborations between Clinic
departments and with other local research institutions. He said NIH
director Dr. Elias Zerhouni has made it clear he favors collaborations,
which help new treatments reach patients faster.
Mr.
Cola said he believes collaborations with other institutions, including
an affiliation agreement with Case, have helped UH tremendously in
winning more NIH grants.
``The National
Cancer Institute definitely looks more favorably on the Cleveland
Clinic and UH partnering on cancer research,'' Mr. Cola said. He noted
that when two institutions work together rather than compete, they can
enroll more patients in clinical trials at a faster rate.
Grants from foundations and drugmakers also are up, Dr. Cottington said.
In
2006, Case received $11 million in research support from private
companies, up 57% from $7 million in 2003. Foundations provided $14
million in research support for Case in 2006, an increase of 10% from
the $12.7 million it received in 2003, Dr. Cottington said.
Mr.
Cola said UH Case Medical Center has shifted much of its focus from NIH
grants to private sources over the last five years to supplement NIH
support and to keep top researchers in Cleveland. In turn, when the
hospital is able to recruit top faculty who bring NIH grants with them,
private support also usually increases, he said.
Since 2001, UH Case Medical Center has seen private research dollars more than double, to $27 million in 2006.
Mr.
Cola said support from Ohio's Third Frontier technology development
program also ``has helped alleviate the competitive pinch we've been
feeling.''
Northeast Ohio institutions have received more than $300 million from the Third Frontier program since it began in 2004.
A firm grip locally
The
research picture isn't as rosy across the country. According to a
report released last month by eight universities - including Harvard,
Yale and Johns Hopkins - some scientists have had to downsize their
laboratories and halt projects.
``They
report having to abandon some of their most productive collaborations
and innovative work, as projects seen as risky are less likely to be
funded,'' said the report, which was titled ``Within Our Grasp - or
Slipping Away? Assuring a New Era of Scientific and Medical Progress.''
The
report also noted that Asian and European countries are trying to lure
young scientists to their countries with increased research dollars.
While
those trends could be alarming, Clinic, Case and UH officials said they
hadn't heard of those things happening in their institutions.
``We have not had people who have had to close down their programs because of a lack of significant funding,'' Dr. DiCorleto
said. ``There are those that might be downsizing a bit, but very few
investigators would give up on their major areas of research.''
And they might not have to do so. Dr. DiCorleto
said he believes the NIH financing climate will improve because many of
the research projects that were supported with multiyear grants will be
expiring soon, so that money will be available for new projects.
``There (also) is a lot of congressional support for giving NIH a boost in the budget,'' he said.
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