For the first time, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) are extending research awards specifically for emergency medicine projects.

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), a part of the NIH, is committed to developing, through research, new strategies to optimize the diagnosis and clinical management of patients with severe disease and trauma in the ED setting.

In pursuit of that mission, the NHLBI has announced the six recipients of the new NHLBI Institutional Training Awards in Emergency Medicine Clinical Research.

The awards will support the establishment of six multidisciplinary research training centers, with the goal of developing a cadre of emergency medicine clinician investigators capable of pioneering new and innovative research to improve the clinical care of patients with life-threatening cardiovascular, pulmonary, and hematologic disorders frequently seen in the ED. The training will include clinical research methodologies, statistics, and research ethics, as well as comprehensive training in the unique procedures required to collect data in emergency care settings.

The clinical training centers were scheduled to start on July 1, and will each be funded for 5 years (over $20 million total for the 5-year period). The six proposals are as follows:

• Developing the Next Generation of Emergency Medicine Researchers (D.A.N.G.E.R). Co-Program Directors: Nathan Kuppermann, M.D., MPH, and James Holmes Jr., M.D., MPH, Department of Emergency Medicine, School of Medicine, The Regents of the University of California, Davis, Sacramento, Calif.
• Enabling Medical Research Growth in Emergency Medicine. Co-Program Directors: Lance B. Becker, M.D., and Leslie Strom, M.D., PhD, Department of Emergency Medicine, School of Medicine, The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.
• Mount Sinai Emergency Medicine Research Career Development Program. Program Director: Lynne D. Richardson, M.D., Department of Emergency Medicine, School of Medicine, Mount Sinai Hospital, New York.
• Oregon Multidisciplinary Training Program for Emergency Medicine Clinical Research. Program Director: Robert A. Lowe, M.D., Department of Emergency Medicine, School of Medicine, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, Ore.
• Pittsburgh Career Development Program in Emergency Medicine Research. Co-Program Directors: Donald M. Yealy and Clifton W. Callaway, M.D., Department of Emergency Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pa.
• Vanderbilt Emergency Medicine Research Training Program (V.E.M.R.T). Co-Program Directors: Alan B. Storrow, M.D., PhD, and Douglas Sawyer, M.D., PhD, Department of Emergency Medicine, School of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tenn.