| Researcher | Organization | Title | Amount |
| Deborah Nickerson | University of Washington | Northwest Genomics Center | $1,999,650 |
Focus: To support the purchase and installation of four of the 12 state-of-the-art gene sequencers needed to launch the new Northwest Genomics Center.
The Northwest Genomics Center, established through a $25 million grant to Dr. Nickerson from the National Institutes of Health (NIH)'s National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) and the NIH Office of the Director, will study the genetic factors underlying common heart, lung, and blood diseases. The federal award, which was made possible by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, included aggressive timelines for the set-up of the Center. The LSDF Opportunity grant, which was awarded outside of the 2009 competition process in response to the rapid need for funding and the Center's extraordinary potential, will provide critical equipment to help ensure that the Center is fully operational by the federal deadline.
The Northwest Genomics Center will sequence the protein-coding regions (exomes) of thousands of individuals who participated in NHLBI's long-term studies of cardiovascular, lung, and blood diseases, including the Framingham Heart Study and the Women's Health Initiative. The combination of sequence data from the Center with the extensive clinical data from the population studies will enable the discovery of genetic influences for diseases that cause significant disability and death in Washington and nationwide. This genetic knowledge may ultimately be translated into new personalized approaches for preventing, diagnosing, and treating major disease. The location of the Center in Seattle will position Washington as a leader in genetic medicine.
Funding for the Opportunity Grant comes from Washington's allocation of bonus payments under the Master Tobacco Settlement, revenues arising from multi-state litigation with tobacco product manufacturers. Twenty-nine grants were previously awarded through the tobacco settlement and/or donor contributions.
See also:
From our "In the News" section:
| April 12, 2010 | UW Pulls in $300M From Stimulus, Places Big Bet for the Future on Genomics [ XCONOMY ] |
| Winter, 2010 | Genomic Medicine at the University of Washington [ UW NEWS ] |
