The National Institutes of Health (NIH) awarded a five-year, $16.3 million contract to the Coriell Institute for Medical Research (Coriell), Camden, NJ. Corielle, winning the NIH award in a national competition, will serve as home for the National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) Human Genetics Resource (HGR) Center.

Michael F. Christman, President and CEO, Coriell, commented that the opportunity is "vital to Coriell's fundamental goal of enhancing human health and well being."

Approximately 50 million Americans suffer from neurological disorders such as MS, autism, epilepsy and Parkinson's disease. The NINDS HGR Center purposes to develop genetic resources that can be shared by the research community, as genetic studies of neurological disorders are increasing in both number and complexity. Sharing accomplishes three goals: eases the rapid replication of new findings, encourages multidisciplinary research and provides resources for new investigators.

The goal of NINDS at Coriell is to improve human health by accelerating the discovery of genetic risk factors for neurological disease. This process requires specimens and clinical data from thousands of individuals.