Don Savage
Headquarters, Washington, DC                April 30, 1996
(Phone:  202/358-1547)

Eileen Hawley  
Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX
(Phone:  713/483-5111)


RELEASE:   96-82

NASA BEGINS PROCESS TO ESTABLISH A NATIONAL 
SPACE BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE

       NASA will take the first step May 1 in awarding a 
cooperative agreement to establish a National Space Biomedical 
Research Institute (NSBRI) to lead efforts in biomedical 
research with the release of a draft solicitation for 
proposals.

       Using NASA's expertise in space life sciences, its 
unique facilities and engineering assets, the NSBRI will 
support a wide variety of basic and applied biomedical sciences 
designed to support the presence of humans in space and to use 
that knowledge to enhance life on Earth.

       "The concept of the Biomedical Research Institute is in 
keeping with our plans to more closely bind NASA's scientific 
knowledge and our immense engineering and technical resources 
to the community," said Johnson Space Center Director George 
W.S. Abbey.  "This will reinforce our links with the external 
community and put NASA-driven technology in the hands of the 
business and academic community where it can be used to help 
people in everyday life."

       A draft Cooperative Agreement Notice to solicit 
proposals for establishing the NSBRI will be issued May 1.  The 
CAN will be available from the Johnson Space Center Industry 
Assistance Office, Code BD35, Houston, TX 77058, at 713/483-
4511; or through the Internet at URL: 

http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/bd2 

under "business opportunities."


       NASA will provide core funding, in addition to research 
opportunities funded through yearly competitions, to ensure a 
focused and successful endeavor.  The overall period of the 
cooperative agreement will be 20 years, a five-year initial 
period, with the option of three five-year extensions.

       The NSBRI is part of the NASA Science Institutes concept 
announced by NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin last year.

                        - end -

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