September was a busy month for MIP grant writers as we played a major role in four applications outlining large programmatic initiatives. These applications represent MIP efforts to take advantage of a variety of funding mechanisms to develop the department’s vision to firmly establish itself as a world leader in infectious disease research. A ~$71 million dollar application was made to establish a Regional Center for Excellence for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Disease for this part of the country here at CSU. A $4 million proposal was submitted to the National Center for Research Resources to assist in the completion of our BSL3 expansion at the BHRB. A ~$3million training grant was submitted to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease to establish an Infectious Disease Training Program. Finally, MIP personnel actively participated in an internal ~$1.3 million AEP Proposal for the establishment of a Bioinformatics Core at CSU. A big thank you goes out to all of the highly committed faculty and staff who made these proposals happen. If fully successful, we may have about 80 million reasons to party this Spring. Now that’ll be one party you wouldn’t want to miss…