UW-Madison pediatrician receives prestigious NIH Merit award

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UW-Madison pediatrician receives prestigious NIH Merit award

November 14, 2005

by Felber

http://www.news.wisc.edu/11834.html

UW-Madison pediatrician Bruce S. Klein has received a highly

selective MERIT award (Method to Extend Research in Time) from the

National Institutes of Health, an award that promises continued

research funding for up to 10 years.

Klein, who is vice chair of the UW-Madison department of pediatrics

and a UW-Madison faculty member since 1986, is a specialist in

pediatric infectious disease. He also is a faculty member in the

departments of medical microbiology and immunology and internal

medicine. This award is tied to Klein's ongoing research into fungal

infections.

Klein says his research focuses on specific types of fungi that have

the ability to change from a natural, or mold form, to a disease-

causing form once they enter the human body. By better understanding

how this change occurs, Klein's research can better understand how

people get sick. " Ultimately, this will help us develop better drugs

and vaccines to reduce the level of infections in the first place, "

Klein says.

Green, acting chair of the UW department of pediatrics,

says that Klein " is among the most productive physician-scientists

in the department. " Adds Green: " His work on Blastomycosis is

internationally recognized. Receiving a MERIT award from the

National Institutes of Health is a wonderful honor and a

confirmation of the importance of his innovative research. "

The NIH Merit award allows a researcher to receive funding for up to

a decade without the need to re-apply and compete for the grants.

According to the NIH, MERIT awards are given to investigators with

impressive records of scientific achievement in research areas of

special importance or promise.

Fewer than 5 percent of NIH-funded investigators are selected to

receive MERIT Awards.

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