WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Obama, in an effort to stimulate the economy and support critical research, announced $5 billion in grants during a visit to the National Institutes of Health on Wednesday.

President Obama looks at a microscope with Dr. Marston Linehan at the National Institutes of Health on Wednesday.

The money comes from economic stimulus funds and is aimed at supporting research projects as well as the jobs related to them to fight cancer and other major diseases, Obama said in announcing the grants.

"Cancer has touched the lives of all Americans, including my own family's," the president said. "We all know the terrible toll on families and the promise of treatments that will allow a mother to be there for her children as they grow up, that will make it possible for a child to reach adulthood, that will allow countless people to survive a disease that's ...

ON a recent Monday afternoon in the back of a middle school kitchen in Queens, it sounded as if a deal was going down.

“You want garam? I can get you garam.”

Jorge Collazo, executive chef for New York City schools, was making an offer to Sharon Barlatier, the manager of one of the largest middle school cafeterias in New York, and, by extension, the country.

Her job is to entice nearly 2,000 students at the height of adolescent squirreliness to eat a good lunch. Because many of her students at Middle School 137 come from families with Indian roots, curry is one of her secret weapons. The spice mix garam masala might improve its firepower.

She has to make curry from a limited list of ingredients approved by the Department of Education: frozen pre-roasted commodity chicken parts, jarred chopped garlic and a generic curry powder.

Fresh chicken might ...