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Mike Mitka

JAMA. 2007;298:615-616.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

For most medical researchers, the quest for funding consumes exorbitant amounts of time. And this pursuit is becoming more arduous as the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the major funding institution for medical research, remains hampered in an era of federal budget constraints.

Although the NIH budget doubled to $27.2 billion between fiscal years 1998 and 2003, funding since then has remained relatively flat. With a stagnant budget, estimated to be $29.2 billion for fiscal year 2007, the NIH, which historically funded 30% of applications, now funds only 20%. For first-time submissions, the acceptance rate is only 10%. Such low rates have raised concerns about nurturing new researchers and novel ideas.

(Photo credit: Peter Close/iStockphoto.com)

"The greatest risk in science is to stop taking risks," notes NIH Director Elias A. Zerhouni, MD. To help ensure that original but risky ideas are not stillborn and that promising . . . [Full Text of this Article]

"WILD AND CRAZY" IDEAS



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