New NIH Center to Streamline Translational Science

Abstract

Though NCATS is a new NIH center, it will primarily be home to programs and efforts that already operate elsewhere within NIH. (A complete list of NCATS's components can be found on the NCATS website.) “They have been reorganized into this new center essentially to create some new adjacencies and improve interaction,” says Insel.The only new NCATS entity is the newly funded Cures Acceleration Network (CAN), set to launch with a modest $10 million budget. CAN is intended to advance the development of “high need cures,” particularly in areas that private companies are unlikely to pursue.The first priority on NCATS's agenda is to find a permanent director to guide the center's 250 person team. A portion of this group will be devoted to grant review and overseeing administration of the center's clinical translational science awards (CTSA program) that fund about 60 research sites across the company with grants totaling nearly $500 million.A sizable group of about 140 people within NCATS will do hands-on intramural research within NIH, including small-molecule screening and drug development for rare diseases. “However, most of those projects are collaborative with external scientists both in academia and industry,” Insel explains. One example includes the TRND team, which is working with scientists at various external sites to find new treatments for sickle cell anemia, CLL, Neimann-Pick disease, and other disease targets.“An effort like NCATS, which is fundamentally focused on innovation, is going to serve both basic and more applied translational science,” adds Insel. “What we hope to do is blur or bridge the division between the two for the benefit of all—it's a great opportunity.”