NIH Grants Target Foreign Brain Drain

Abstract

A new NIH program aims to encourage the productive return of NIH-trained foreign scientists to their home countries. Fogarty International Center, in conjunction with eight other NIH units, has announced the formation of the Global Health Research Initiative Program (GRIP). The program has an annual budget of $1 million and will support grants of $50,000 per year that researchers can renew for up to five years. There has been a longstanding need for individuals who train in the U.S. to get help in receiving research support when they return to their home countries, notes Fogarty Center Director Gerald T. Keusch. GRIP is expected to help combat the brain drain from developing countries when talented scientists facing limited opportunities decide not to return home after their training, Keusch adds. GRIP joins a number of Fogarty research and training programs that are geared toward enhancing the research infrastructure in developing countries while promoting research on global health ...