The US National Institutes of Health is the scene for a power struggle, following the decision of President George W Bush to sign legislation that creates a common pool of about 5% of the agency's funds for multidisciplinary research. Until recently, the NIH was dominated by the 27 separate scientific centers and institutes that composed the agency, each of which was essentially autonomous from the central director.
Elias Zerhouni, the NIH's Director, described the previous situation as "you have 27 very strong fingers, but no palm. That doesn't make a hand." Although the decision is largely welcomed in the research community and reflects the US Congress' concern that the NIH is "big, slow and can't innovate," the 27 component institutes are all campaigning to ensure that they do not face funding cuts to provide the resources for the central fund.
Recognizing the financial constraints on the agency, Dr Zerhouni told the Wall Street Journal recently that he proposes to introduce the common pool over the next couple of years. At today's levels, the aim would be to set aside $1.5 billion for projects such as obesity or nanotechnology research.
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