BECON MEETING MINUTES
November 19, 2001

The NIH’s Bioengineering Consortium (BECON) met from 3 to 5 PM on Monday, November 19, 2001, in Wilson Hall (Building 1) on the NIH Main Campus.  Closed (members only) and open sessions were included in the agenda.   The following text provides the minutes for this meeting.

Closed Session (3-4 PM)

CD’s for August BRP Applications  – Packets consisting of two cd’s each and containing the BRP grant applications from the August 2001 submittal date were distributed at the meeting.

Meeting for Review of Bioengineering Grants  – BECON members were reminded that a meeting of the BECON bioengineering grant application review subcommittee and representatives of the CSR is scheduled for Wednesday, November 21, from 1 to 2:30 PM.

Transfer of Bioengineering Grants to the NIBIB – Representatives of the NIBIB asked for comments on draft procedures and grantee letters for transferring bioengineering and bioimaging grants to the NIBIB.

NIH/DOE Workshops  – During previous BECON meetings, a near-future NIH/DOE joint workshop was discussed.  The workshop is scheduled for early December and is titled “Thermographic Approaches to Diagnosis and Therapy”.   The focus of the workshop will be on acoustic, microwave, and magnetic resonance modalities applied to disease diagnosis and therapy.  Attendance is by invitation, and about 30 DOE laboratory, NIH intramural and extramural, and academic staff are expected.

BECON 2002 Symposium  – A preliminary agenda for the BECON 2002 Symposium schedule for June 24-25, 2002, at the Natcher Center was distributed.  The Symposium title is “Sensors for Biological Research and Medicine”, and the meeting is the fifth in a series of annual BECON-coordinated conferences.

Bioengineering Grant Issues  -  Discussion was held concerning institute/center issues associated with BECON-coordinated bioengineering grants.  The Consortium consensus was that the BECON was the appropriate place to address such issues, and that a subcommittee should be formed to determine what specific issues needed to be considered and to provide suggestions for resolution.  Volunteers for the subject committee were solicited and received.

 Open Session (4-5 PM)

The following two presentations were made during the open portion of the meeting:

1. Dr. King Li, Director of Radiology and Imaging Sciences at the NIH Clinical Center spoke on “Intramural NIH Clinical Research Interests”.  The structure of the Clinical Center Imaging Department and future plans for programs and development were presented.  Research and training opportunities and directions were also discussed.
2. Dr. Mrunal Chapekar or the National Institute of science and Technology (NIST) presented “An Introduction to the Advanced Technologies Program at NIST”.  The ATP is aimed at industry and technology development and not for basic research.  Criteria and objectives of the program were presented along with future directions.

Next BECON Meeting

The next BECON meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, December 19, from 3 to 5 PM in Room 151 of Building 1 on the NIH Main Campus.  A preliminary agenda will be available about a week before the meeting.