As part of the collaboration with the Department of Biotechnology under the US-India partnership, the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB), which is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has announced supplemental funding for research grants to facilitate collaborative work among researchers in the United States and India.

The grants will be used to develop low-cost diagnostic and therapeutic medical technologies that can be used in underserved communities worldwide. The NIBIB has called for proposals for any collaborative technology development or device that would be appropriate in a low-resource setting, such as low-cost imaging devices or point-of-care screening tests.

The supplemental funding, announced at the US-India Science and Technology Joint Commission Meeting in Washington, DC, is an initiative between NIBIB and the DBT. In October 2007, NIBIB and DBT entered into a bilateral agreement to develop low-cost health care technologies aimed at the medically underserved.

In 2008, NIBIB and DBT held a joint workshop on low-cost diagnostic and therapeutic medical technologies. Approximately 60 scientists, engineers, and clinicians from the United States and India identified leading areas of opportunity for improvements in health care for individuals with chronic conditions in low resource settings. As a result of this workshop, NIBIB and DBT are initiating jointly funded initiatives that capitalize on the expertise and resources of the two nations. To facilitate development of collaborations between US and Indian investigators, the NIBIB and DBT have established an online networking group at LinkedIn.com.

Funding amounts will vary and are limited to 25 per cent of the direct costs of an existing NIBIB grant. The funding opportunity closes on September 10, 2011, according to official sources. The supplemental funds will support investigators based in the United States who are collaborating with Indian investigators. In addition, Indian collaborators are expected to apply to the DBT complementary funding.

The technologies identified included glucose monitoring for diabetics, low-cost platform technologies for multiple (multivalent) diagnostic tests, a multiplex, lab-on-a-chip technology for Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) and other infections, point-of-care diagnostics for infant screening, a pre-screening test for blood bank safety, diagnostic test for the early detection of cardiovascular disease, point-of-care tests and reagents for cancer screening, networked and mobile technologies for diagnostic devices, diagnostic screening devices simple enough to be operated by people with minimal education (10th grade), non-invasive or minimally-invasive screening technologies (e.g. low-cost imaging, micro fluidics, microchip blood tests to detect circulating tumour cells), and diagnostic intermediates/biomarker development (e.g. recombinant proteins, monoclonal antibodies) for low-cost screening kits.

Budget amounts for supplements are expected to vary. Supplements are limited to 25 per cent of the direct cost of the parent grant or $75,000 direct costs per year, whichever is less. Supplements may be requested for up to two years provided the parent grant will remain active during this time. A maximum of $20,000 per year may be allocated for extended research and consultations by the NIBIB-funded investigator or US-based co-investigators at a collaborator's site in India.