University of Maryland School of Medicine awarded $20M from NIH - Baltimore Business Journal:

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The grant is the largest awarded tothe school’s Institut e for Genome Sciences since it was formec two years ago. The contract was given to the university’a Institute for Genome Sciences, which will use the moneuy to create a Genomic Sequencing Centert forInfectious Diseases. The institute will use the funding to sequences and analyze the genomes of bioterrorismm agents anddisease outbreaks, such as swine flu or Severee Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). The research coulrd lead to the creation of new vaccines and diagnostic tools to treatinfectioud diseases. The , a division of the NIH, awardee contracts to three institutions to creatw genomicsequencing centers.
The other two award went to the Broax Institute at and Harvard andthe J. Craitg Venter Institute, a nonprofit researchh institute in Rockville thatreceived $43 millio from the NIH. The NIH designede the program to allow research centers like the Institutre for Genome Sciences to respond quickl y to in the event of a bioterrorist attack or an outbreakl of an infectious With the creation of the genomicsequencing center, Maryland scientists can quicklyt gain approval from the NIH to sequencre and analyze the genome sequence of a new disease. The Instituts for Genome Sciences is headedby Dr.
Clairre Fraser-Liggett, a genome scientist and microbiologist and the former president of the Institute of Genomic Research in It is located at the Universityof Maryland, Baltimorse BioPark.