BECON MEETING MINUTES

BECON MEETING – January 15, 2003

Public Minutes

Minutes

The NIH’s Bioengineering Consortium (BECON) met from 3 to 5 PM on Wednesday, January 15, 2003, in Room 151 of Building 1 on the NIH Main Campus in Bethesda, Maryland. Most of the meeting was aimed at discussing the BECON 2003 Symposium on “Catalyzing Team Science”, the Third BRP Grantee Meeting, and inter-agency collaborations. The following text provides the minutes of this meeting.

Contribution Acknowledgement – The celebration of Dr. Wendy Baldwin’s service at the NIH is scheduled for 2 to 5 PM on January 29 in Wilson Hall. The one-page registration form for the celebration was distributed at the meeting.

BECON 2003 Symposium – Information concerning the BECON 2003 Symposium scheduled for June 23-24 at the Natcher Conference Center on the NIH Main Campus was distributed at the meeting. The information included a prospectus, a draft agenda, and a summary of the breakout session titles and participant candidates. Three case studies are planned, and these were reviewed by the NIH Conference Chair, Dan Sullivan. Dr. Janie Fouke (Michigan State) and Keith Brodie (Duke) have accepted positions as Extramural Chairs.

BRP Grantee Meeting – A one-page draft agenda for the Third BRP Grantee Meeting was distributed and discussed. The Grantee Meeting is scheduled for the afternoon of June 24 and the morning of June 25 beginning just after the BECON 2003 Symposium. About 90 grantees will be accommodated in the one-day meeting which will consist of NIH presentations on topics of interest to the grantees; 90 five-minute, two-slide grantee presentations in three concurrent sessions; a networking session at the end of the first day; and a general discussion period at the end of the second day.

Inter-Agency Collaborations – Collaborative projects between Federal agencies have been considered and encouraged for a variety of biomedical research and training programs. To provide information that could be useful for developing such initiatives, NIH experience with inter-agency programs was discussed.

BECON 2004 Symposium – Early in the calendar year preceding a annual June BECON conference dates is typically when the Consortium solicits suggestions for the next symposium which would be held in June 2004. BECON members were asked to start thinking about a topic for the 2004 symposium.

Other Announcements – The following items and announcements were included in the meeting proceedings:

1. Interest in the new BECON nanotechology program announcement was high as reflected by the large number of inquiries that have been received. Several other BECON representatives reported similar high levels of interest for the new solicitation.
2. The First NIBIB Advisory Council Meeting is scheduled for January 16 and 17 in Room 6C6 of Building 31. The “open” session of the meeting begins at 8:30 AM on January 16.
3. Plans are proceeding for an inter-agency workshop on nanobiotechnology aimed at identifying opportunities and challenges in several areas in addition to biomedical applications over the next 5-10 years. Details will be available in the near future.
4. Due to conflicts with several schedules, the April BECON meeting will be scheduled for the fourth Wednesday instead of the third.

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

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