10 Years of Helping Small Businesses Make an Impact

January 12, 2015

In the rapidly evolving world of modern medicine, it is important that the transition of basic scientific discoveries into new medical treatments takes place with both precision and speed.

NIH’s Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs – which I’ve discussed a few times on the blog before – are a key part of NIH’s translational research portfolio. ….

Learn More About Collaborating with NIH’s Clinical Center

November 28, 2014

In 2012, NIH created a unique opportunity for extramural researchers to collaborate with our intramural scientists and use the exceptional resources of the NIH Clinical Center. I want to remind you of the third round of this program, called “Opportunities for Collaborative Research at the NIH Clinical Center”, in time for the upcoming pre-application date on December 10. ….

Formula for Innovation: People + Ideas + Time

July 17, 2014

In these times of tight budgets and rapidly evolving science, we must consider new ways to invest biomedical research dollars to achieve maximum impact—to turn scientific discoveries into better health as swiftly as possible. We do this by thinking strategically about the areas of research that we support, as well as the process by which we fund that research. …. We often hear from investigators at all career stages that they spend a significant portion of their careers writing grant applications, consuming precious time that could otherwise be spent conducting research. ….

From Lab Bench to Bedside: Accelerating the Commercialization of Biomedical Innovations

June 19, 2014

Tom Kalil is Deputy Director for Technology and Innovation in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). — We are delighted to announce a new collaboration between the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) to empower entrepreneurial scientists and advance the Lab-to-Market priorities set forth in the President’s Management Agenda. The Federal government invests over $130 billion on research and development (R&D) each year, and the President’s 2015 budget supports a sustained commitment to accelerate the transfer of promising Federally-funded technologies from the laboratory to the commercial marketplace.

What’s New with NIH’s Small Business Research Programs?

January 28, 2014

Since the last time I’ve written about our small business research programs, there have been a lot of important changes as a result of the Congressional reauthorization that mandated Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) funding requirements through fiscal year 2017. …. We have been working diligently alongside the Small Business Administration to put these changes into effect for NIH, as described on the SBIR/STTR Reauthorization Act of 2011: NIH Implementation of Key Changes website. As the 2014 HHS-wide SBIR and STTR Omnibus solicitations were announced last week, I thought it would be good to highlight some of these important reforms. ….

New Funding Opportunities with a Focus on Workforce Diversity

December 30, 2013

The biomedical research enterprise relies on engaging talented researchers from all groups, including individuals from diverse backgrounds underrepresented in biomedical research. As I described earlier here on the blog, NIH has planned the launch of several programs to increase workforce diversity. I’m excited to let you know that on December 19 we issued the funding announcements for the three core initiatives that make up the Common Fund “Enhancing the Diversity of the NIH-Funded Workforce” program. ….

A New Opportunity in Big Data

September 20, 2013

In addition to all the biomedical workforce activity following December’s Advisory Committee to the Director (ACD) meeting, other ACD working group initiatives have also been busy launching their flagship programs, as well. …. Most recently, NIH announced the flagship program for supporting challenges related to “Big Data” ….

Additional Support for Sandy-affected Grantees

April 15, 2013

It’s been a little over six months since Hurricane Sandy, and many NIH grantees are still experiencing the effects of this major disaster. About a month after the storm I traveled to NYU, once with members of my staff, and again with NIH director Francis Collins to survey the damage. As Francis described on his blog, the amount of damage we saw was truly devastating. ….