There has been increased interaction within the seven priority programs established last year as documented by the submission of two program project grants and the initiation of pilot projects in many of our programs.
X represents areas of active interaction, as documented by joint research projects.
All disease oriented programs have separate clinical research projects, but no formal clinical research program overlapping these projects currently exists. At the same time, significant efforts have been made to increase the visibility of our Institute within the business community. Our goal is to initiate additional research projects with corporations and industry and to provide the administrative support needed to sustain such activities. We have also initiated the second phase of the strategic planning process started last year, by creating four task forces to outline the scientific directions that the Institute should take for the next 10 years and to identify financial priorities. We anticipate that the work of these task forces will be completed in the fall of 1997.