We are pleased to convey this document, Optimizing NIH, which presents comment and recommendations that we commend to three government entities, the White House (and its Department of Health and Human Services, administrative home of NIH), Congress (which authorizes and funds NIH), and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) itself. Our goal is to promote adoption of changes in policy and practice that would further enhance NIH, the world’s premier biomedical research and health agency. This report was created by an ad hoc Working Group, convened by the Coalition for the Life Sciences. The Group includes not only two members with prior experience as Director of NIH, but also many researchers with distinguished research achievements (three are Nobel Laureates) underwritten substantially by NIH grants and training mechanisms. Each member brings deep insight borne of years, typically decades, of service as volunteers to enable and advance NIH activities and governance, and as leaders of research institutions or policy/advocacy organizations. Collectively, the group deeply values NIH’s leadership and accomplishments, while also recognizing that large bureaucracies and longstanding policies can benefit from fresh insights. While the seven recommendations in this report are not intended to be inclusive, addressing them would be broadly impactful. Some would require infusion of new funding, and we describe the substantial benefits that such investments would deliver. Other recommendations are actionable without substantial new costs; indeed, some could reduce costs, while markedly enhancing NIH’s capacity for discovery, workforce development, and improvement in public health and wellbeing.
Our Working Group stands ready to respond to questions, provide further rationale for our recommendations or implementation details, or engage in work required to render the recommendations actionable. Thank you for your attention and consideration.
On behalf of the Working Group,
Keith R. Yamamoto Chair, Optimizing NIH Working Group Coalition for the Life Sciences
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