NIH to Get a 5-Point Plan. (August 21, 2009)

Frances Collins, the newly appointed Director of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) in his first public statement has laid out his priorities for the US$30.4 billion dollar organisation as five "themes".

• The promotion of high-throughput technologies in areas that are "poised for this kind of approach," such as gene transcription and autism studies,

• an emphasis on translational research, such as a new NIH program to develop drugs for rare diseases,

• health care reform, including research comparing treatments, which he said NIH "should embrace".

• global health and

• "empower[ing] the biomedical research community", which includes sustained funding, encouraging young investigators, and funding innovative research.

Dr Collins said that he considered his "job one" was to deal with the aftermath of the US$10.4 billion slice of the stimulus package when it runs out in 2011. He indicated that he would make the case for additional funding to the US Congress noting that NIH funding stimulates local economies and by emphasizing "themes that clearly resonate."

He considers that US$40 billion, is "within [the] envelope" of what NIH would need to restore losses to inflation since 2003.

And once again Dr Collins emphasised that his "personal interests ... will not interfere with the judgments that I will need to make as the director of the NIH."