Established by Congressional mandate in 1993, the IDeA Program builds research capacities in states that historically have had low levels of NIH funding by supporting basic, clinical, and translational research; faculty development; and infrastructure improvements. The program also enhances the ability of investigators to compete successfully for additional research funding and serves the research needs of medically underserved communities.

Shaded are the 23 states and Puerto Rico​ eligible for IDeA funding.

The IDeA program has five main components. Below is a description of each of these components. TO LEARN MORE ABOUT SOUTH CAROLINA’S IDeA PROGRAMS, click here to view our interactive map.

• Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) augment and strengthen institutional biomedical research capabilities by expanding and developing biomedical faculty research capability through support of a multidisciplinary center led by a peer-reviewed, NIH-funded investigator with expertise central to the theme of the grant proposal.

• IDeA Networks of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE) enhance biomedical research capacity, expand, and strengthen the research capabilities of biomedical faculty, and provide access to biomedical resources for promising undergraduate students throughout the eligible states. INBRE puts the IDeA approach into action by enhancing research infrastructure through support of a statewide research development network that links research-intensive institutions with primarily undergraduate institutions.

• IDeA Program Infrastructure for Clinical and Translational Research (IDeA-CTR) provides support for: 1) the development of infrastructure and human resources required to conduct clinical and translational research in IDeA-eligible states, 2) enhancing the ability of IDeA institutions and investigators to develop competitive clinical and translational research programs, 3) fostering and sustaining collaboration and coordination of clinical and translational activities within and across IDeA institutions/ organizations, and 4) addressing health conditions that affect the medically underserved and/or that are prevalent among populations in IDeA states.

• The IDeA States Pediatric Clinical Trials Network’s (ISPCTN) overarching goals are to provide access to state-of-the-art clinical trials to medically underserved and rural populations in the five ECHO priority areas of upper and lower airway disease, obesity, pre-, peri-, and postnatal outcomes, neurodevelopment, and overall positive health. The network will also build national pediatric research capacity to conduct clinical trials by providing professional development for faculty, team support and infrastructure building.

• IDeA Co-funding provides support to NIH investigator-initiated R01 or R15 applications that received excellent ratings through the peer review process, but fell beyond an Institute’s or Center’s (ICs) pay line. NIH ICs select and submit eligible applications to NIGMS for consideration for IDeA Co-funding support, and maintain the administration and management of the applications that receive IDeA Co-funding.