Included will be $175 million for the Cancer Genome Atlas project, which hopes to study the genetic underpinnings of at least 20 cancers over the next five years by collecting and analyzing 20,000 tissue samples from tumors. The work will be carried out by more than 150 scientists at dozens of locations around the country, according to NIH.
Another $750 million in stimulus money will go toward heart, lung and blood disease research. Among the projects is one that will study the DNA of participants in the long-running Framingham study of cardiovascular disease, which began in 1948.
Collins, in a statement, predicted that scientists will soon see "a quantum leap in our understanding of cancer." He called the genome atlas "an excellent example of how the Recovery Act is fueling discoveries that will fundamentally change the way we fight disease and improve our lives."
Scientists will also use the stimulus grants, which helped swell the NIH annual budget by about 15 percent, for exploring autism, HIV-AIDS and swine flu.
Before Obama's arrival, the National Institutes of Health screened government-produced promotional videos designed to connect stimulus funding to current research projects. Several scientists from Hopkins, including faculty from the medical school in Baltimore, were among those featured.
Dr. Kerry Stewart, a professor of medicine at Hopkins, said a stimulus grant had created the equivalent of five full-time jobs in his diet and exercise project. The exercise physiology study is designed to investigate the impact of diet and exercise on people who have diabetes or are at risk of diabetes.
Dr. Pamela Zeitlin, a pediatrics professor at the Hopkins Children's Center, said her NIH grant is for basic laboratory research into alternate gene treatment for cystic fibrosis. She said her project is "much closer" to reaching the clinical trial stage because of stimulus funding.
Among those on hand for Obama's speech were Democratic Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, a proponent of funding for NIH, who got a standing ovation, and Democratic Rep. Chris Van Hollen, whose Maryland district includes NIH.
A list of the NIH Recovery Act grants can be found at http://report.nih.gov/recovery/arragrants.cfm.
Stimulating research
Maryland schools and facilities are getting at least 441 grants through stimulus funding:
Johns Hopkins University: 257 grants
University of Maryland, Baltimore: 96
University of Maryland, College Park: 19
University of Maryland, Baltimore County: 13
Jackson Foundation for Advancement of Military Medicine: 10
Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation: 7
University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute: 5
Gynecologic Oncology Group: 4
Kennedy Krieger Institute: 4
17 other public and private institutions in Maryland, including the J. Craig Venter Institute and Smiths Detection, also received grants, according to NIH.
