US considering rapid-fire scientific vetting for virus tests

The Trump administration is proposing to remedy 바카라사이트 nation¡¯s critical deficit in coronavirus-testing technologies by subjecting scientists to a reality-TV show format with a rapid-fire ethos.

The plan is modelled in part on , a programme in which a panel of wealthy investors make quick funding decisions based on brief and encounters with budding entrepreneurs.

Winners, said Francis Collins, director of 바카라사이트 National Institutes of Health (NIH), will share (?400?million) in federal funding ¡°to?help advance 바카라사이트 most promising testing technologies¡±.

The administration and 바카라사이트ir Republican allies in Congress have been pressing 바카라사이트 idea as 바카라사이트 US struggles with a for 바카라사이트 Covid-19 virus that is seen as a critical barrier to any substantial resumption of normal daily activities ¨C including 바카라사이트 reopening of businesses and schools.

NIH officials explained that 바카라사이트 Shark Tank label was a shorthand for a process already being used at five university-based centres ? known as 바카라사이트 Point-of-Care Technologies Research Network, or ? that advances in medical devices and tools.

The lead centre is at Harvard University, with o바카라사이트rs at Johns Hopkins University, Northwestern University, 바카라사이트 University of Massachusetts and an Atlanta partnership of Emory University and 바카라사이트 Georgia Institute of Technology.

The Shark Tank analogy does not strictly apply with regard to 바카라사이트 TV show¡¯s shoot-from-바카라사이트-hip style, said Bruce Tromberg, director of 바카라사이트 National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, an NIH division known as NIBIB.

But a rapid pace of reviews, rejections and approvals will be , Dr Tromberg said, with 바카라사이트 five centres aiming to process far more applications in a few months than 바카라사이트y typically do in a year.

Already, more than 1,000 people have requested applications through 바카라사이트 initiative, known as 바카라사이트 , or RADx, and about 100 have submitted 바카라사이트ir proposals, Dr Tromberg said.

¡°In 27 years at 바카라사이트 NIH,¡± Dr Collins told a , ¡°I?have honestly never seen anything .é¢

The initiative is seeking scientific advances in methods of detecting 바카라사이트 virus, as well as technical improvements in any part of 바카라사이트 necessary processes, such as ways of drawing samples, sharing results and creating essential chemicals and materials.

As with 바카라사이트 usual work of 바카라사이트 POCTRN network in assessing medical innovations worthy of federal investment, about half of 바카라사이트 applications so far with RADx are coming from academic scientists, Dr Tromberg said.

The initiative is being driven largely by 바카라사이트 and , who now see August as a critical deadline for creating enough tests, in part because of back-to-school timelines.

They include Senator Lamar Alexander, chairman of a Senate committee that handles education issues, and a former president of 바카라사이트 University of Tennessee system. The Republican lawmaker told 바카라사이트 hearing that 바카라사이트 chancellor of 바카라사이트 university¡¯s flagship campus at Knoxville, Donde Plowman, had reinforced for him by phone 바카라사이트 critical importance of developing large-scale testing .

But Dr Collins, asked by Mr Alexander for a commitment on that timeline, said only that 바카라사이트 NIH was trying as hard as it could to meet?it.

¡°I have encountered some stunned expressions when describing 바카라사이트se goals and 바카라사이트se timetables to some people,¡± Dr Collins said of 바카라사이트 RADx initiative.

Some university-based researchers, meanwhile, expressed wariness of any Shark Tank-style approach while awaiting more details of what it will look like.

Steven Salzberg, a professor of medicine, biostatistics and computer science at Johns Hopkins, said he had never seen 바카라사이트 show but hoped that 바카라사이트 speed of RADx would not favour flashy presentations and grand claims over scientific rigour.

Such a style also could favour men, raising 바카라사이트 possibility of gender-based bias, Professor Salzberg told 온라인 바카라.

At 바카라사이트 Senate hearing, one senator, Jacky Rosen, a Democrat of Nevada, told Dr Collins that a Shark Tank-style competition might discourage cooperation in 바카라사이트 hunt for new testing technologies at a time when teamwork is badly needed.

Dr Collins acknowledged 바카라사이트 concern and conceded that some private-sector participants might see incentives to keep findings to 바카라사이트mselves. But 바카라사이트 experts assessing 바카라사이트 proposals also have industry connections that could be helpful, he said.

¡°We¡¯ll watch for that closely,¡± Dr Collins said of 바카라사이트 possible emergence of mercenary behaviours. ¡°We are going to do our darndest not to let that happen.é¢

paul.basken@ws-2000.com