Anita Mattson, associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, received a $1.7-million award from NIH to develop a new class of catalysts that could make it possible to reliably synthesize organic compounds that hold the promise of treating cancers that have become resistant to commonly used chemotherapy. The catalysts may also open the door to a new approach to discovering drugs for cancer and other diseases.
As NIH and NCI funding is negotiated in Congress, Paul W. Thurman felt compelled to crunch some numbers. He compared the U.S.’s cumulative funding for NCI to the funding slated for ICE—the latter of which vastly outweighs the former—and asked whether the funding priorities of the federal government are properly representing the nation’s mortality.
