$441,000 over three years

Subhra Mohapatra, PhD, Department of Interdisciplinary Oncology, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute

"Mechanism of Down-regulation of X-linked Inhibitors of Apoptosis Induced by Purine Analogues"

$441,000 over three years

Team Science Program Grants:

Mark McLean, PhD, and Dayami Lopez, PhD; Gene Ness, PhD, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; USF College of Medicine

"Molecular Mechanisms of Hormonal Regulation of Cholesterol Homeostasis"

$970,000 over two years, with matching university funds

The James and Esther King Biomedical Research Program's mission is to improve and expand biomedical knowledge in Florida by encouraging research. This year Governor Bush signed Senate Bill 2002 that adds $6 million recurring dollars to the program. Senate Bill 1278 also gives the program a greater ability to offer multi-year grants to biomedical researchers in Florida. For the first time ever, the program has the long-term funding stability essential to continuity and the advancement of longer term biomedical research projects, keeping research teams together, building research capacity and training new scientists.

"The Florida Department of Health is proud to be entrusted with this innovative program. Ultimately, our goal is to have this program invest almost $100 million in biomedical research over the next 10 years," said Secretary of Health John O. Agwunobi, MD, MBA, MPH.  "Last year, Governor Bush announced his intent to make Florida a biotechnology leader, beginning with the expansion of The Scripps Research Institute to Florida. Continuing these efforts this spring, Governor Bush worked with Florida's legislative leaders to expand and improve the Biomedical Research Program."

The grants were awarded in three main categories:

-- New Investigator Research (NIR) grants fund research by scientists embarking upon independent research careers in Florida with a view to encouraging the growth of Florida's research scientist corps.

-- Small Business Technology Transfer Research (SBTTR) grants are designed to stimulate the commercialization of biomedical research in Florida.

-- Team Science Program (TSP) grants, are awarded to multidisciplinary, multi-investigator, multi-project programs at larger research institutions. These grants require a matching fund commitment from the institution.

Recipients were competitively selected by a process overseen by the Biomedical Research Advisory Council housed in the Florida Department of Health. The Council is made up of nine respected scientists from across Florida. A sophisticated multi-step process is used to peer review and rank all applicants projects. All funded research projects are monitored throughout the life of their grant by FDOH biomedical research program staff and the Council.

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