Today, more than ever, the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) Institutes, Centers, and Offices are working together in new ways, and leveraging their unique strengths and resources. These collaborations can be formal or informal, and may involve sharing financial resources, materials, or specimens. Often, it is sharing actual scientific expertise. By maximizing resources, these trans-NIH initiatives serve to advance medical research in all disease areas and across the basic, translational, and clinical research continuum.
The 2008 annual report to Congress (PDF, 21 pages) identifies the collaborative initiatives shared across the NIH. The 2007 annual report is also available (PDF, 21 pages). Although some trans-NIH initiatives are the product of highly visible joint activities coordinated by program offices (OAR, OBSSR, ODP, ORWH, and OSC) in the NIH Office of the Director, such as the NIH Roadmap for Medical Research supported by the Common Fund, the vast majority of collaborative activities take place day-to-day in the NIH offices and laboratories as a matter of routine.
The sampling of initiatives presented here illustrates how collaborations across the NIH can produce substantial results from sharing ideas, resources, and methods.
Collaborations at the NIH
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