BECON MEETING MINUTES

BECON MEETING – May 15, 2002

Public Minutes

The NIH Bioengineering Consortium (BECON) met from 3 to 5 PM on Wednesday, May 15, in Room 151 of Building 1 on the NIH Main Campus in Bethesda, Maryland. The following text provides the minutes for this meeting.

Results of NIBIB Task Force – The Congressionally-mandated task force to evaluate bioengineering and imaging grants with regard to relevance to the NIBIB mission has completed its mission, and a report was submitted to the Acting Director of the NIH.

BRP and BRG Application Review Schedules – CSR schedules for review of BRP and BRG applications were distributed to BECON members.

BECON 2002 Symposium Status – Preparations for the June 24-25 BECON Symposium on Sensors are proceeding on schedule. All plenary speakers have been confirmed, and almost all breakout session panelists have been confirmed. An outreach session titled “Federal Funding Opportunities for Sensor Research” is planned for the afternoon of June 25 (Tuesday) from 1 to 3 PM. The session will consist of ten formatted presentations lasting ten minutes each from several NIH institutes and several Federal agencies. Registration can be accomplished electronically, and information updates are available on the Symposium Web site at www.becon.nih.gov/symposium2002.htm .

Status of K-25, BRP, and Nanotechnology Program Announcements and NIH Guide Notices – Copies of (1) a one-page summary of BECON member response to the K-25 and Nanotechnology program announcements, (2) a working version of the K-25 program announcement, (3) a one-page draft BRP “NIH Guide” notice, and (4) a one-page nanotechnology research opportunities draft Guide notice were distributed and discussed at the meeting.

Internship Program at NIH – In response to a request by non-US government representatives to learn more about the NIH review process, the possibility of internships aimed at providing exposure to NIH review policies and procedures was discussed. The consensus was that specific internships for non-US organizations may result in sensitive issues involving application confidentiality and disposition. Options instead of a formal internship program were identified.

BECON Web Site Committee – Considering that the BECON Web site has been available for almost three years and some of the information may need revision, the suggestion of forming a BECON Web Site Committee to review the site and coordinate maintenance efforts was discussed. The Consortium consensus was that this was a good idea, but considering the number of major efforts currently being conducted (e.g., BECON 2002 Symposium, revision of PA’s and notices, BRP and BRG application reviews, etc.), the actual formation of such a committee should probably be delayed until after the BECON 2002 Conference in June. This issue will be reconsidered at a future BECON meeting.

Action Items from BRP Grantee Meeting – Since this topic would require a substantial amount of discussion, it was tabled until a later BECON meeting.

Items Not Included with the Preliminary Agenda – The following items were not included on the preliminary agenda but were discussed at the meeting:

BECON 2003 Symposium– At a previous BECON meeting, a topic focusing on how the NIH and academic organizations can foster trans-disciplinary and organizational collaboration was suggested. A BECON subcommittee will initiate planning for the BECON 2003 Symposium which is tentatively scheduled for late June 2003.

International Sensor Study – The World Technology Evaluation Center (WTEC) will conduct an international study to determine the status of sensor research for biomedical applications. The WTEC conducted similar studies for nanotechnology and tissue engineering. The effort will be funded by several Federal agencies.

Nantechnology Article – For information to BECON members, an article on optical nano-molecular motors was mentioned which may be of interest to some BECON members. The article recently appeared in “Science” and the “Washington Post”.

BMIS Status – The Bioengineering Materials and Implant Science (BMIS) Group is resuming activity. The BMIS will probably be administered by the NIBIB and has recently initiated discussions concerning a September conference on implant retrieval issues. Specific issues to be addressed at this meeting include (1) the Federal role in implant retrieval and (2) educating the public on the scientific and personal aspects of implant retrieval.

Robo Rat – Articles on a “robo rat” recently appeared in the “Nature” and the “Washington Post”. This effort resulted from an early research grant from the BECON BRG program.

Nanotechnology Issues – Recent discussions related to the National Nanotechnology Initiative resulted in questions concerning the role of the NIH in manufacturing at the nanoscale. An example of nanoparticle size manufacturing in drugs was discussed. Several examples of NIH support of nanomanufacturing were identified.

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