Results tagged “fredhutch”

Local researchers and science geeks are totally geeking out right now, as $21.5 billion of the stimulus dollars, dedicated solely to research and development, is now up for grabs. Scientists from across Washington, including the big shots at UW, WSU, Children's, and Fred Hutch have all applied for funding, and will continue to keep their fingers crossed for months until they hear who gets a slice of the stimulus research pie. Signs point in a positive direction, as one local laboratory focused on energy efficiency research was awarded $124 million in stimulus bucks already. The Pacific Northwest is expected to receive some funding (=more jobs), including dollars for biomedical research, volcano monitoring, and earthquake studies.

It was an interesting story, but Discover Magazine posted an even more compelling version, complete with horrifying medical details and a zinger of an ending.

UW, Fred Hutch and Los Alamos National Laboratory have been collaborating to study the potential spread of avian flu if it were ever to mutate into a human-to-human virus. They used supercomputers to, uh, supercompute how quickly the virus would travel and its possible course as well as what mitigating factors might be successful. The study lists school closures, vaccination and antiviral drugs as possible roadblocks to the virus.

Seattle area life-science-research non-profit organizations (read UW, Fred Hutch, Children's Hosp, SBRI, etc.) are seeing green. Gov. Christine Gregoire's $350 million Life Sciences Discovery Fund initiative could create a serious influx of nerdy science geeks for the next 12 years. The 20,000 new jobs are good for the economy but can only spell disaster for local lab mice and bunnies. Should I mention the money comes from the tobacco company trial settlement?