The ICMIC will The reviews of our previous section on Developmental Projects were somewhat mixed. In general, our plans to establish a program of Developmental Projects and support new directions for research were considered satisfactory, and overall the projects were found to be """"""""appropriate to the goals of the ICMIC and scientifically promising"""""""". However, there were numerous specific scientific criticisms of two of the projects described. In our revised proposal these two projects have been removed. While many of the criticisms were addressable, in the time since the application both of these have found some support from other sources and are further along than may be appropriate. In their place we have included one new project in which the aims accord more closely with the general focus of the ICMIC, and we have retained the project """"""""A quantitative high throughput methodology to aid the discovery of molecular imaging agents"""""""" as exemplars of potential development projects. It should be emphasized that these projects are not certain to be supported - they represent two existing proposals for using ICMIC resources that may be worthy of funding, but they are examples only of the type of exploratory research we would support. In practice a competitive solicitation would take place, and the best new ideas would be selected for support. We have not undertaken such a solicitation for this proposal. Nonetheless, we feel the two examples described are worthy of consideration and demonstrate the type and range of grants we would consider supporting with ICMIC resources. Comments were made concerning the lack of statistical considerations for the Developmental Projects, as well as lack of details on animal handling. We have addressed these by (a) adding a Biostatistics Core for data analysis and project planning and (b) by providing much more information on the use of animals in Section G (see also our Introduction to Sections A and B). Our biostatisticians have already been closely involved in preparing the descriptions of the developmental projects. The specific criticisms for the project """"""""A quantitative high throughput methodology to aid the discovery of molecular imaging agents"""""""" are addressed immediately before the description of that project. A more general criticism was made when the reviewers commented """"""""The plan for administration of the Development Projects is brief and does not describe the specific efforts of the ICMIC to actively engage in the Development Projects or to promote interactions between the Developmental Project investigators and the Specialized Cores and Research Projects"""""""". Some of this information was put into Section B, as per the Instructions. There we state """"""""Review criteria for these pilot project proposals will be similar to that given by NIH for R21 or R03 grants, but with a special emphasis on the collaborative nature of the ICMIC."""""""" Thus, we intend to incorporate in the guidelines for submission, and in the criteria for review, a specific emphasis on the integration of the Development Projects with the Specialized Resources. Moreover, each director of the Specialized Resource will be charged with responsibility for ensuring that the Development Projects are supported adequately and make full use of the ICMIC resources. The ICMIC will be very proactive in encouraging new investigators and projects to appreciate the synergies made possible by the organization of the ICMIC. Note that these efforts will complement our very active program outreach, outlined in Section B, or promoting the facilities and research of the ICMIC via websites, seminars, workshops and other means. Given the very compact and intimate character of our campus we anticipate there will be strong connections made between the Development Projects and all other aspects of the ICMIC.
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