The newly appointed director of NIH, Francis Collins, MD, PhD, held a town hall meeting for non-profit and health organizations this past Wednesday, September 9 to discuss some of his plans for NIH over the next several years.  He highlighted the need to translate basic scientific discoveries into new treatments, especially for rare diseases, the need to put science to work for the benefit of healthcare reform, and the need to support and encourage innovative research.  You can watch the town hall meeting in its entirety on the NIH website. 

Dr. Collins also issued an invitation to all patient organizations and healthcare agencies to submit 1-2 page emails with their suggestions regarding issues that they feel need to be addressed by the NIH over the coming months or years.  You can submit your 1-2 page email to Dr. Collins at NIH-Listens@NIH.gov.  If you’d like to also share your comments with the ICA, please feel free to send them to icmail@ichelp.org.