U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson today announced the release of $350 million in grants over the next five years to establish eight “Regional Centers of Excellence” to conduct biological defense research.

The new regional centers will be established at Duke University, Harvard Medical School, New York State Health Department, the University of Chicago, the University of Baltimore, the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, the University of Washington and Washington University in St. Louis, according to a U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases release.

Each center will conduct research on developing new treatment and vaccines against biological weapons agents, such as anthrax, smallpox, plague and tularemia, the NIAID release said.  In addition, the centers will conduct research on bacterial and viral disease processes and will design new diagnostic approaches for biological defense.

NIAID will be responsible for administering the grants and the overall program.

“The new RCE program provides a coordinated and comprehensive mechanism to support the interdisciplinary research that will lead to new and improved therapies, vaccines, diagnostics and other tools to protect the citizens of our country and the world against the threat of bioterrorism,” NIAID Director Anthony Fauci said in a statement (U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases release, Sept. 4).

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