“The Blue Sheet” Vol. 36, no. 8

"The Blue Sheet"

- 2 -

February 24, 1993

I iBUDGET
NIH REQUESTS $446 MIL IN FY 1993 SUPPLEMENTAL FUNDS
FOR AIDS, HUMAN GENOME, TUBERCULOSIS RESEARCH
NIH has submitted a supplemental budget request to
the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health
(OASH) for an additional $446 mil. in FY 1993 funds
to support AIDS, tuberculosis and human genome research.
According to agency officials, the request included
$166 mil. for AIDS, $180 mil. for research on the human genome and $100 mil. for TB. Although the request was transmitted to OASH as one package, the
three areas of research could conceivably be considered
separately.
In FY 1993 NIH has been appropriated approximately $1 bil. for AIDS and $23 mil. for TB. The agency's lead genome research arm, the National Center for
Human Genome Research, received $106 miL
A supplemental budget request may be submitted at
any time prior to Sept. 30 of the fiscal year for which
additional funds are being sought. However, the earlier
the request is made, the more likely it is that research
projects will be eligible for the peer review process
conducted by each institute. NIH officials have indicated
that even now, potential projects would probably not be
submitted in time to be reviewed.
The path of a supplemental budget request begins at
NIH. Following development, NIH then forwards the
request to OASH which, assuming approval, forwards it
to the HHS secretary. After the secretary, the request is
reviewed by the Office of Management and Budget,
which then forwards the request to the congressional
appropriations committees.
Regarding reprogrammed NIH FY 1993 funds for
TB research, NIH Director Bernadine Healy has signed

off on the final figures for the emergency transfer authority ( "The Blue Sheet" Feb. 3, p. 2).
The transfer will provide $9.2 mil. this year to
support TB research projects conducted by the institutes.
The transfer authority is limited to a 1% reprogramming
of funds from NIH's overall budget. The projects to be
funded have been reviewed by NIH's executive committee on TB research.
The transfer is in addition to $3.2 mil. already
separately redirected by institute directors in FY 1993.
In total, NIH has redirected approximately $12.4 mil.
for TB research this year.
As a result of the transfer, the National Institute for
Child Health and Human Development will receive
$519,000. NICHD plans to use the money to support an
intramural project led by John Robbins, chief of
NICHD's Laboratory of Developmental and Molecular
Immunity, to develop a tuberculosis vaccine. Prior to the
transfer, NICHD had been appropriated $50,000 in FY
1993 for TB research.
NHLBI To Receive Added $1.3 Mil. For TB Research
According to a project overview, "successes with
conjugate capsular polysaccharide vaccines against H.
influenzae type b, shigella and other organisms places
this laboratory in a prime position to apply a similar
approach to developing a vaccine against M. tuberculosis."
The overview indicates that initial efforts on a TB
vaccine leads Robbins to "believe that a conjugate vaccine against capsular lipopolysaccharide of M. tuberculosis can be produced and will be effective." Robbins'
project "is the only component in the Institute working
directly on tuberculosis," the overview states.
The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute will
receive an additional $1.3 mil. in FY 1993 for TB.
NHLBI has already issued an RFA (request for application) that will be supported by the transfer funding. The
RFA's objective is "to encourage research on identifying
and elucidating non-immune mechanisms that may be
involved in the early stages of defense against infection
and disease by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) in the
lung." NHLBI had been appropriated $2.9 mil. for FY
1993.
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious
Diseases, NIH's lead institute for TB research, will
receive $5.9 mil. The money will be used to support
efforts identified in the institute's recently formulated
TB research agenda. NIAID had initially planned to
devote $14.7 mil. to TB research this year.

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