The Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation signed an agreement with CSX Corp., a Jacksonville, Fla. railroad for the improvement of rail lines between Richmond and Washington, D.C. The project will undertaken with $65.7 million appropriated by the 2000 General Assembly in an effort to enhance and encourage commuter rail service between the two capital cities. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

Researchers from the University of Virginia Health System received a five-year, $5 million grant from The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society for development of drug treatments for leukemia. Dr. John Bushweller and Dr. Milton Brown will share the grant, which is expected to create eight new research positions. (Press release)

The Virginia Bioinformatics Institute, a research group based at Virginia Tech, received $4.9 million from the U.S. Department of Defense to continue development of its PathPort (Pathogen Portal) project. PathPort is a Web-based research tool to study and analyze data on known and new infectious diseases within common data standards in order to facilitate research by scientists around the world. (Press release)