Establishment of the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences marks the start of a new era for NIH and translational science. Congress approved NCATS with the fiscal year 2012 spending bill and the President signed it into law on Dec. 23, 2011.

“Millions of people are looking to science to deliver new and better ways to detect, treat and prevent disease,” said NIH director Dr. Francis Collins. “Joining some of the best and brightest minds into NCATS is an important step in making the most of current scientific opportunities, examining the therapeutic development pipeline in a new way and breaking down some of the barriers to translating discoveries into clinical advances for patients.”

The new center will gather existing NIH programs into an integrated scientific enterprise with new leadership. NCATS’s mission is to develop innovative methods and technologies designed to reduce, remove or bypass bottlenecks in delivering new drugs, diagnostics and medical devices to patients with a wide range of diseases and conditions.

Ambassador Eric Goosby

“PEPFAR shows the world the heart of the American people and our desire to work with [the world] in partnership to meet human needs,” said Ambassador Eric Goosby, the U.S. global AIDS coordinator at the Department of State and administrator of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).