Hello to all the constituencies of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). This is an exciting time for the NICHD and for all of the NIH.
On February 17, President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (also called the Recovery Act or the Stimulus Package), setting in motion a cascade of activity throughout the United States.
As the NIH prepares to receive and quickly distribute $10.4 billion from this legislation, I’d like to highlight some NICHD activities related to the Act and offer some context for how the Institute plans to use this money.
In keeping with the Recovery Act’s goals of preserving and creating jobs, promoting economic recovery, and providing investments to increase economic efficiency by spurring technological advances in science and health, the NIH will invest its money in its grantees and potential grantees to further research in the health sciences. Among these distributions will be at least $200 million in fiscal years 2009 and 2010 for a new initiative called the NIH Challenge Grants in Health and Science Research. In the context of the Challenge Grants, the NICHD is interested in applications related to many Institute-specific Challenge Topics.
The Recovery Act and its goals are truly extraordinary—The NIH will have only two years to spend this money, meaning that many projects supported must be ready to go immediately. To improve transparency, the funds associated with the Act come with extensive reporting requirements, meaning that we will all need to track investments and outcomes in great detail.
The NICHD will receive approximately $330 million from the Recovery Act and plans to use the funds in a variety of ways to further its mission. For some of our grantees, this support will come in the form of supplements to existing research or training grants; for others, it will support applications already received and reviewed, but up to a higher percentile than was possible previously. The funds will also support new projects or new aspects of existing projects.
NICHD staff are working to establish plans to optimize use of Recovery Act funds. As details related to the Recovery Act funds are worked out, we appreciate your patience and flexibility throughout this process. Please visit the NICHD Information Related to the Recovery Act Web page to learn more about the specifics of these awards and activities.
The Recovery Act and its goals present many unique opportunities. I am certain we can work together to make the most of this historic time.
Sincerely yours,
/Duane Alexander/
Duane Alexander, M.D.
NICHD Director
For More Information
The links below provide additional information related to the Recovery Act:
- NICHD Information Related to the Recovery Act
- NIH Recovery Act Information
- White House Recovery Act Web Site
- Full text of Recovery Act (PDF - 1.07 MB)
Originally Posted: March 4, 2009
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