Scripps researcher wins long-term NIH grant
JUPITER — Scientists are too diplomatic to say it, but many have something of a love-hate relationship with the National Institutes of Health.
Researchers need NIH grants, a crucial funding stream that provides more than $23 billion a year to scientists. But they don’t love the time-consuming process that goes into winning the federal awards.
Acknowledging that reality, the NIH this year unveiled a new grant program that lets proven researchers win larger chunks of money with longer time horizons than the typical five-year award. Ron Davis, chairman of the neuroscience department at Scripps Florida, said Monday that he received funding that promises to be worth $1.1 million a year over eight years.
“Thi s grant will essentially re p l a c e t h re e o f my c u r re n t grants,” Davis said. “It’ll substantially reduce the amount of time I spend administering grants.”
Less time on paperwork means more time in the lab — and more freedom to ponder the complicated science of memory, Davis said.
“Nobody ever appreciates that you just need time to think,” he said.
NIH-funded projects typically carry detailed headlines citing the arcane names of genes and proteins. Bucking that tradition, Davis’ latest grant is for research simply titled “Biology of Memory,” a straightforward description even a non-scientist can com- prehend.
The idea is that if Davis pursues a topic that doesn’t pan out, he need not apply for a new grant on a new research project. Instead, he has the flexibility to pursue related experiments.
Davis’ research focuses on how memories are formed and forgotten. Because the human brain is so massive and complex, he studies fruit fly brains.
“The human brain is really kind of a black box,” Davis said. “We’ve made enormous progress, but we’ve still only scratched the surface.”
Scripps Florida posted a record year of NIH grants in the federal fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, bringing in $40 million in 2016, up from $35.9 million in 2015.
Florida researchers won $528 million from the NIH for the federal fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, topping the previous high of $521 million, set in 2015.