Program Snapshot

The NIH is partnering with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to advance the field of regulatory science, a specialized research area that aims to improve assessment of experimental therapies, preventives, and diagnostics. The Common Fund’s Regulatory Science program is fostering the development, evaluation and availability of new or improved tools, methods, standards, and applied science that support a better understanding and improved evaluation of product safety, quality, effectiveness, and manufacturing throughout the product life cycle.

During the initial phase of the program, launched in fiscal year 2010, four new research awards in high priority areas of regulatory science were supported. Expansion of the program in FY 2012 focuses on developing new cell-based technologies, called microsystems, to predict more accurately drug safety and efficacy in humans.

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Program Highlights

Read a new blog post from NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins about new developments in lung-on-a-chip technology. This incredible advance by Dr. Ingber and colleagues at the Wyss Institute at Harvard University were in part supported by the NIH Common Fund Regulatory Science program. Read the full blog post from the director here, and be sure to check for new science updates from Dr. Collins three times a week on the NIH Director’s Blog here!

Read the press release about the new development here.