NCATS director's message - strategic milestones and other moments
From Joni L. Rutter, PhD — Director, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences | NCATS director's message - strategic milestones and other moments | Monday, October 28, 2024
Dear NCATS Community,
Thank you again for your continued interest in our strategic plan. More than 200 people joined the public listening session last month. I'm grateful for all the feedback. Keep it coming!
The plan already has sharpened our focus. Here's a look at recent activities that support our strategic priorities.
More Treatments
The FDA granted NCATS both Rare Pediatric Disease Designations and Orphan Drug Designations for five investigational gene therapies that will be studied by the Bespoke Gene Therapy Consortium, a public–private partnership managed by the Foundation for the NIH. The designations could lead to more gene therapies by offering financial incentives to prospective companies. For more details, read the NCATS news article.
All People
Two CTSA Program institutions—Oregon Health and Science University and the University of Wisconsin–Madison—will aid the launch of clinical research in rural primary care settings as part of the CARE for Health pilot program. These institutions bring expertise and resources that will speed the translation of research discoveries into improved care for people in rural areas.
One of our intramural research teams in the Therapeutic Development Branch debuted a suite of new resources to advance equity in the preclinical phase of the drug development process. Sharie Haugabook gave an overview of these resources at our September Advisory Council meeting (watch beginning at 1:07:08), including a prototype of the "preclinical equity index" tool we will use to evaluate new project collaborations. We've posted the drug development knowledge guide on our website. It includes three graphics that you may use under a Creative Commons license.
More Quickly
We launched several challenges to spur innovation. The quantum technology challenges aim to apply quantum sensing technologies and quantum computing approaches to address biomedical and clinical translational problems. We also launched a prize challenge that seeks to recognize and amplify exemplary models of translational science education and training. Winning models will be shared broadly through NCATS channels. We hope to receive many excellent submissions for all the challenges, so please share these opportunities with your networks.
An exciting moment was when I met with Representative Diana DeGette of Colorado, who co-developed the 21st Century Cures Act to quicken the pace of treatment development and delivery. When the Act became law, Max—a boy living with a rare disease—made this cape (pictured, left) for the Congresswoman. It turns out that Max's mom, Lisa Schill, was an NCATS Cures Acceleration Network advisory committee member. It was really neat to see how all those efforts were connected. We will keep doing what we can at NCATS to bring more treatments to all people more quickly!
Your partner in science and health,
Joni
Joni L. Rutter, PhD
Director
National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS)
National Institutes of Health (NIH)