New bio-medical research training program begins working

New rules prohibiting outside consulting arrangements by researchers at the &to=http:// english.pravda.ru/society/2002/07/02/31526.html ' target=_blank>National Institutes of Health have been welcomed by some scientists, with the agency's director saying that group has "said that we needed this." But others, said the director, Dr. Elias Zerhouni, have threatened "to walk across the street" to work for organizations that do not have such a ban. The rules, formally announced at a news conference on Tuesday, ban consulting arrangements by scientists at the agency and pharmaceutical and &to=http:// english.pravda.ru/main/2002/06/06/29841.html ' target=_blank>biotech companies. The rules, which will take effect in a few days, grew out of revelations over the past year that some of the agency's leading scientists had lent their names to drug industry marketing efforts. Under them, N.I.H. scientists will be banned from working in either a paid or an unpaid capacity for drug and biotechnology companies, health care providers, insurers, trade associations and educational institutions that apply for money from the agency. The rules will also ban top scientists from owning shares in drug or biotechnology companies. Lower-level employees will be able to own as much as $15,000 in company shares. Gifts of greater than $200 will be banned. Scientists will be prohibited from accepting many academic prizes, informs the New York Times. According to the Buffalo Business Journal, the University at Buffalo has been awarded $600,000 from the National Institutes of Health for a new bio-medical research training program. UB said the undergraduate program, known as the Summer Research Institute for Biomedical Materials Science and Engineering, will be launched this summer. Joseph Gardella, professor in the university's chemistry department and associate dean in the College of Arts and Sciences, will direct the 10-week program. Officials said the research effort is one of only six funded by NIH as part of its "Roadmap" initiative regarding &to=http:// english.pravda.ru/war/2003/03/04/44000.html ' target=_blank>medical research in the 21st century. NR

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