The House has approved a request by U.S. Rep. Howard Coble and several of his North Carolina congressional colleagues for $4 million toward the Guilford Genomic Medicine Initiative project.

Coble said that the House included his $4 million request in the Fiscal Year 2007 Department of Defense appropriations bill.

Coble said that the joint research project is being conducted by the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, the Moses Cone Health System and Duke University on behalf the U.S. Army. This will be the fourth year that Coble has obtained funding for the project. Coble worked with Reps. Brad Miller, David Price and Mel Watt to obtain this year's funding. More than $9.2 million has been secured for the genomic medicine project during the past three years.

"Incorporating genomic information into everyday medical practice is the future of medicine, but many are still unaware of how this can be utilized," Coble said.

Coble said that as the country ages, including our armed forces, common medical issues for the current military active duty force and their spouses will develop within the DOD health-care system.