BECON MEETING MINUTES

BECON MEETING - June 22, 2005

Minutes

The NIH Bioengineering Consortium (BECON) met from 3 to 4:20 PM on Wednesday, June 22, in Room 7111 of the Rockledge 2 Building on Rockledge Drive in Bethesda , Maryland. Most of the meeting was aimed at discussing the August BRP grantee Meeting and the BECON 2006 Symposium. The following text provides the minutes for this meeting.

National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity – The inaugural meeting of the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB) is scheduled for June 30 (Thursday) and July 1 (Friday), 2005, at the Hyatt Regency Bethesda Hotel. The meeting is open to the public and will begin at 8 AM on June 30. A one-page summary of the NSABB and the meeting was distributed at the BECON meeting. The NSABB was established to advise Federal depart me nts and agencies on ways to minimize the possibility that knowledge and technologies emanating from important biological research will be misused to threaten public health or national security. Interested attendees may present oral comments or submit written comments to the committee using venues described in the meeting Web site at http://www.biosecurityboard.gov . Detailed information about the meeting is also available on this Web site.

Fifth BRP Grantee Meeting – Plans are proceeding for the Fifth BRP grantee Meeting which is scheduled for August 15-16 at the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel and Convention Center.

Bioengineering Nanotechnology SBIR Initiative - A re-issue of PA-02-125 for the Bioengineering Nanotechnology Initiative – SBIR was discussed. Changes relative to the previous solicitation were described, and the intent of the program was discussed.

BSIRTS Activities – Team-science-focused activities being fostered by the BECON Subcommittee on Inter-Disciplinary Research and Team Science (BSIRTS) was briefly discussed at the meeting. Current BSIRTS activities are primarily aimed at determining better ways to routinely accommodate unsolicited applications for research support that are important to the mission of NIH but do not conform to the organizational structure of the NIH and its current business practices and procedures.

BECON 2006 Symposium – Based on input received since the May BECON meeting, the general topic of bridging the life and physical sciences appears to be a topic of interest for the BECON 2006 symposium. This meeting would address issues like dealing with cultural differences among disciplines and organizations, facilitating multi-disciplinary research, and grand challenges that could be used to support research at the scientific interface. The BECON 2006 symposium would follow-up on so me themes encompassed by the BECON 2003 Team Science Symposium, recent NIH and NSF activities on bridging the sciences, and a recent National Academies report on facilitating interdisciplinary science. A BECON Planning Committee will begin work on the BECON 2006 symposium in the near future.

Next BECON Meeting – The next BECON meeting is scheduled for Thursday, July 28, from 9 to 10:30 AM in Room 151 of Building 1 on the NIH Main Campus . A preliminary agenda will be distributed about a week before the meeting.