On November 18, 2005, just before the 2005 meeting of the Radiological Society of North America, the National Institute of Biomedi-cal Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) released a request for applications (RFA), "RFA-EB-06-001: Exploratory Grants (P20) for NIBIB Quantum Projects" [1,2]. Credit for the RFA goes to NIBIB Director Roderic Pettigrew, PhD, MD, who developed and nurtured the concept of Quantum Grants. The RFA is significant for the imaging community and the NIBIB at several levels. The first relates to the timing of the announcement, which comes at a time of budget reductions and belt tightening, which frequently results in forms of retrenchment and often failed attempts to maintain the status quo. Instead, the RFA looks forward and makes a bold step to dramatically improve human health and strengthen the standing of the NIBIB. A benefit to the imagers and bioengineers who are the core constituency of the institute is the chance to leverage their expertise with the NIBIB and develop a large-scale demonstration of technology development. Additionally, the major themes of the RFA are in line with the ideas of Elias Zer-houni, MD, the director of the National Institutes of Health, for restructuring the research enterprise and emphasizing translational, large-scale science as outlined in the Roadmap for Medical Research process that involves the National Institutes of Health at large [3].
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