NIH’s science structure is likely to change as NIH director Dr. Francis Collins announced major proposals to add and subtract institutes/centers on Dec. 8 at the 101st meeting of the advisory committee to the director. NIH is considering creation of a National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS, potentially), he said, and an institute studying substance use, abuse and addiction.

NCATS would essentially replace the National Center for Research Resources, as was discussed Dec. 7 by the Scientific Management Review Board (see story below). Plans are to establish the new center by Oct. 1, 2011, as part of the 2012 fiscal year budget.

The Scientific Management Review Board voted 12-1 on Dec. 7 to recommend that NIH proceed with plans for a new translational medicine and therapeutics (TMAT) center at NIH that would effectively supplant the National Center for Research Resources. The SMRB asked that, in the 3 months before its spring 2011 meeting, NIH study the nuances of replacing NCRR with a new entity that would take advantage of burgeoning scientific opportunities in drug development.

NIH director Dr. Francis Collins hinted at the outset of the meeting that “gradual organizational evolution is not adequate…we need a ‘punctuated evolution’…I think structural changes are needed.”