News Release

Tuberculosis Research Foundation announces the first competition for Vaccine Innovation Program (VIP) grants

Grant and Award Announcement

Aeras

The Sequella Global Tuberculosis Foundation, with the generous support of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, announces the first competition for Vaccine Innovation Program (VIP) grants. The VIP grants provide money for highly innovative research projects that will further the development of effective vaccines for human tuberculosis. Applications for the $50,000 grants must be received by October 3, 2000.

"Even though vaccines are among the most cost-effective and efficient tools of medicine, there is no effective vaccine for pulmonary tuberculosis, an infectious disease that kills more than two million people each year," said Dr. Carol A. Nacy, President of the Sequella Global Tuberculosis Foundation. "Our hope is that this program will spur the research community to try new approaches to vaccine development. Our goal, of course, is a safe and effective vaccine in the shortest time possible."

Investigators at public and private, nonprofit or for-profit institutions, in the TB research community or outside, and anywhere in the world, are invited to apply. "We want these grants to spur innovation, to encourage thinking beyond the traditional approaches and to encourage insights by investigators for whom tuberculosis is a new field," said Dr. Nacy.

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Application forms and instructions are available at the Sequella Foundation website, http://www.sequellafoundation. org

Queries before or after the review process should be directed to: Candace McCombs, PhD, VIP Program Officer, SGTBF; phone (334) 460-7154; fax (334) 460-7678, and e-mail cmccombs@usamail.usouthal.e du

The Sequella Global Tuberculosis Foundation was established in 1997 to bring the creativity and ingenuity of contemporary medical research to the tasks of tuberculosis diagnosis, prevention, and cure worldwide.

October 3, 2000, is the deadline for receipt of applications. Applicants will be notified of the results of the review by the end of December, 200, with January 1, 2001, as the earliest starting date of the project.


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