Stimulus-funded research up to $300 million in state

On Monday, a consortium of Seattle scientists will announce $16 million in federal stimulus grants to figure out whether popular cancer treatments and screening tests really save lives.

On Thursday, the University of Washington received a $25 million stimulus grant to launch the nation's first genomics center in a decade, dedicated to the search for genes linked to heart, blood and lung diseases.

A few weeks before that, it was $35 million from the National Science Foundation to help build an ambitious observatory on the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.

"It's been crazy," said Mary Lidstrom, UW's vice provost for research.

Crazy good, that is.

From Seattle to Pullman, more than 350 research projects in Washington have received the green light for stimulus funds totaling more than $300 million.

The bulk of the money comes from the National Institutes of Health, which received $10 billion from Congress to create science jobs and accelerate studies with potential payoffs for human health.

With $100 million in grants, the UW was tied Friday with the University of Michigan for the top spot on the NIH's payout list. But the standings change frequently, and Harvard, Johns Hopkins and other academic powerhouses aren't far behind.

"We'll see where we end up when the dust settles," Lidstrom said.

The UW's total stimulus funding, which includes dozens of NSF grants, stands at about $190 million, with more to come during the second year of the projects.

Grants will keep coming for several months.

"I don't think we're quite halfway through yet," said Dr. Paul Ramsey, dean of the UW School of Medicine. If the UW's stimulus funding reaches $300 million, it would represent about a 30 percent bump over average annual research funding. But the stimulus money will be spread over the next two to three years.

"This is an immediate stimulus for the economy," Ramsey said, "and it's establishing programs that will set the direction for research for the next five to 10 years."

The new genomics center will push science forward by zeroing in on genes that predispose some people to early heart disease or stroke, or protect others by elevating their good cholesterol, said project leader Deborah Nickerson. The goal is new ways to fight some of the nation's top killers.

"I like to think of it as a moon shot for medicine," said Nickerson, who has already hired eight researchers and purchased a dozen gene sequencers. "There's a lot of money being spent."

Some of the most recent awards are four grants totaling $16 million to researchers at The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, the UW and Group Health Research Institute. They will tackle some of the most vexing and economically important questions in health care: Do costly cancer scans, blood tests and screening tests help people survive longer?

For example, conventional wisdom says colonoscopy is best for early detection of colon cancer, said Group Health's Diana Buist, one of the research leaders. But no studies have shown that it reduces deaths. A simple test for blood in the stool, however, can make a definite dent in death rates, if it's done properly, she said.

The scientists also will evaluate new, digital mammograms and different methods of screening for cervical cancer.

"What we're going to be looking at is: How well do things really work in practice?" Buist said.

Group Health has been a pioneer in this type of comparative-effectiveness research, but the new money and new players will make Seattle an epicenter for the field, she said.

At Washington State University, Norman Lewis aims to improve human health by studying plants that are sources of important drugs, from morphine to quinine. With $2.75 million in stimulus funds, he will try to figure out how plants produce the complex chemicals. Then, he hopes to either replicate the processes in the lab or use genetic engineering to increase output.

It's a project he's dreamed about for 30 years.

In the 1970s, though, technology wasn't up to the task. "You could spend years just trying to figure out one step in these pathways, and there were maybe 20 to 30 steps," Lewis said.

The stimulus money arrives at a time when the technology has advanced dramatically, he said.

"It's really exciting for us."

Most project managers say it's too early to quantify the jobs the science funding will create. A sizable chunk of the money for most projects will go for equipment and supplies.

Lewis is hiring 10 people now, with more to come.

The $3.8 million in stimulus money received by Seattle Biomedical Research Institute, a private research lab, is paying part of the salaries for 27 people, said director Ken Stuart.

Overall, federal funding for medical research has been dropping in recent years, and the stimulus money helps offset that, he said. Researchers who might have seen their funding dry up were able to continue their work.

"The stimulus money prevented the loss of that intellectual capacity and maintained the continuity of these projects," Stuart said.

The job connection was clear for UW's smallest stimulus grant. Dr. John Amory got $5,000 to pay a summer lab assistant to help with research on male contraceptives.

The largest grant at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center went to Dr. Amanda Paulovich, for her work to develop a method to screen blood and tissue samples for hundreds of proteins. Scientists believe those proteins someday will be useful in diagnosing and monitoring disease, but sorting through them now is a laborious process.

Paulovich learned Thursday of the $4.8 million grant, one of a small percentage selected from 22,000 applicants.

"It's an honor to be given this opportunity," she said. "But at the same time, it's daunting. You feel the weight of responsibility."

Sandi Doughton: 206-464-2491 or sdoughton@seattletimes.com