BECON MEETING MINUTES
February 21, 2001

A meeting of the Bioengineering Consortium (BECON) was held on Wednesday,

February 21, from 3-5 PM in Room 151 of Building l on the NIH Main Campus. The following text describes the proceedings of this meeting.

1. Status of the New Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering (Steven Hyman & Donna Dean) –The status of the new institute was discussed by Drs. Steven Hyman (NIMH) & Donna Dean (OD) who are leading NIH efforts concerning establishment and development. An establishment package (mission statement, organization chart, preliminary budget) is being prepared and should be completed in early March. Considering activities required to begin operations, the new institute is not expected to be receiving grant applications until CY 2002.
2. BECON 2001 Reparative Medicine Symposium (Chris Kelley and Lore Anne McNicol) – The extra-mural co-chairs and plenary speakers for the June 25-26 symposium have all been confirmed as well as many of the moderators for the breakout sessions. Registration is now open through the Symposium Web site, and abstracts are being solicited.
3. Bioengineering Research Partnerships (Terry Nesbitt) – The study section schedule for the BRP-2 reviews was distributed along with a list of BRP-3 letters of intent.
4. NSF Collaboration and Review Schedule (Dick Swaja) –NIH staff is invited to participate in the review of NSF Engineering Research Center (ERC) applications as either a reviewer or observer.
5. NIH/DOE Intramural Research Collaboration (Dick Swaja) – A presentation about potential NIH/DOE intramural research collaboration was made at the NIH Scientific Directors meeting on February 7. A Steering Committee has been selected and will have its first meeting in late February.
6. First Annual BRP Grantee Meeting (Dick Swaja) – The first annual BRP grantee meeting is scheduled for March 23, 2001. The primary objective of the meeting is to obtain information from grantees to facilitate development and improvement of the BRP program

The next BECON meeting is scheduled for Monday, March 12, from 3 to 5 PM in Room 151 of Building l. This open portion of this meeting will feature a presentation by Dr. Jack Linehan, Vice President for Biomedical Engineering Programs for the Whitaker Foundation, concerning Whitaker’s plans for bioengineering research and training and the future of the Foundation.