September 26, 1997
For more information on these science news and feature story tips, please contact the public information officer at the end of each item at (703) 306-1070. Editor: Bill Noxon
UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI JOINS SUNY BUFFALO TO STUDY AIRBORNE CONTAGIONS
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded a five-year, $900,000 research grant to the Industry/University Cooperative Research Center for Biosurfaces, based at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo, to expand research into aerobiology - the study of airborne contagions - and cardiovascular and respiratory health.
The new research will increase understanding of how the human cardiovascular and respiratory systems react to airborne contagions, such as those that cause "sick building syndrome" and multiple chemical sensitivities.
The award provides for the SUNY Buffalo center to add a new industry/ university team at the University of Miami, to focus on cardiopulmonary research.
"Adding the University of Miami to our team brings us the experience of Dr. Ned Hwang, an expert in testing and modeling heart valves," says Anne Meyer, director of the Buffalo site. "He is well known for his advances in imaging model heart systems in vitro, which is important to the study of heart valve implants and fluid dynamics."
SUNY Buffalo, the University of Memphis (Tenn.) and the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University are the other academic members of the NSF research center.
For more information, see http://www.eng.nsf.gov/eec/i-ucrc.htm and http://www.buffalo.edu/news [George Chartier]
SKELETAL MUSCLE MAY REPAIR HEART DAMAGE
One day doctors may transplant skeletal muscle obtained from a patient's leg or arm into the heart to repair damage after a heart attack, according to researchers at an NSF-supported engineering research center.
Doris Taylor, a molecular biologist at the Center for Emerging Cardiovascular Technologies based at Duke University, reported that she has injected biopsied skeletal muscle cells directly into a damaged heart, and within two weeks the cells formed elongated healthy muscle fibers extending through the damaged zone.
The heart cannot regenerate after an attack, in part because it lacks reserve cells. Skeletal muscle, which contain reserve cells, constantly regenerates and repairs in response to stress or injury.
Heart disease remains the leading cause of death in the U.S.
For more information, see http://www.duke.edu/~dataylor/ [George Chartier]
PRESIDENT'S BUDGET CONTINUE SHIFT TO CIVILIAN R&D
Throughout the 1990s, the percentage of federal research and development (R&D) funding for nondefense programs has continued to increase steadily --from 37 percent in fiscal 1990 to an estimated 46 percent in fiscal 1998. Defense, however, still accounts for more than half of the R&D total, according to a new NSF data brief.
President Clinton's 1998 budget, for which Congress is still appropriating money, contains nearly a $1 billion increase in total nondefense R&D budget authority, to $33 billion. The NSF data brief notes that, even with this proposed increase in nondefense R&D, defense will continue to account for more than half ($39 billion, or 54 percent) of the federal R&D total.
The president's 1998 budget requested $72 billion for R&D programs - just one percent more than the preliminary 1997 R&D total of $71 billion. Adjusting for expected inflation, the Administration's proposed overall R&D budget authority would decrease by two percent.
For more information see http://www.nsf.gov/sbe/srs/stats.htm [George Chartier]
-NSF-
NSF is an independent federal agency responsible for fundamental research in all fields of science and engineering, with an annual budget of about $3.3 billion. NSF funds reach all 50 states, through grants to more than 2,000 universities and institutions nationwide. NSF receives more than 50,000 requests for funding annually, including at least 30,000 new proposals. NSF's home page is URL: http://www.nsf.gov
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