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Hello, Today the NIH reissued its Request for Application (RFA) for the creation of Parkinson's disease Research Centers of Excellence. The original RFA was published in November 1997, shortly following the passage of the Udall Bill. The bill authorized, but did not appropriate funds for, ten such centers. Twenty-five applications were received in response, and, following passage this year of increased NIH appropriations for 1999, three centers, at Emory University, Johns Hopkins and Massachusetts General Hospital, were designated and funded. Under the reissued RFA, five additional centers will be funded to a maximum of one million dollars each for five years. Five million dollars are allocated for this in 1999. The RFA was reissued, it reads, because of "...recent research progress and opportunity, the excellent response to the initial request, and in recognition of continuing Congressional interest to intensify and to expand basic and clinical research in Parkinson's Disease..." Interestingly, the RFA does not mention the Udall Bill. Instead there are a few sentences which say that it is related to the priority given to chronic disabling conditions under the Public Health Service program "Healthy People 2000," which has been in place for several years. Can anyone explain this? Applicants are requested to submit a letter of intent by January 15, 1999. Completed applications are due April 27, 1999. The RFA can be viewed or downloaded at NIH web page http://www.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-NS-99-004.html. Phil Tompkins Hoboken NJ age 60/dx 1990