§1161x School of Veterinary Medicine Competitive Grant Program

Summary

The Secretary of Health and Human Services must give competitive grants to eligible public or nonprofit schools and programs to train more veterinarians for public health and emergency preparedness. Eligible groups include accredited veterinary schools; accredited public or nonprofit departments or schools that offer graduate training for veterinarians in public health areas; and public or nonprofit groups that run recognized veterinary residency programs and offer postgraduate public health training. Applicants must send applications to HHS in the form and time the Secretary requires. HHS will review applications carefully and award grants based on ability to train more veterinarians in specified public health areas, boost research on high‑priority disease agents, or other needed factors. HHS will favor projects that join more than one school or training program. Grant money can be used to expand academic or residency programs, pay for postgraduate or concurrent student training, and cover minor renovations of classrooms, libraries, and labs. Public health practice areas include bioterrorism and emergency preparedness, environmental health, food safety and security, regulatory medicine, diagnostic laboratory medicine, and biomedical research. Funding is authorized for fiscal year 2009 and each of the five succeeding fiscal years, and the money remains available until spent.