Forward Focus Workshops: Strategic Planning for the NIH Common Fund

The NIH is hosting a public meeting in San Francisco, CA, to gather input from the broad community on the biggest obstacles to progress in biomedical research or the greatest opportunities in biomedical science that are ripe for exploration. Input gathered from this meeting will help inform potential new program ideas for the NIH Common Fund.

The Common Fund supports goal-driven, research networks in which investigators work in a coordinated and synergistic way to generate data, solve technological problems, and/or otherwise create resources and tools that will be stimulatory to the broader research community. These programs typically involve a series of integrated funding initiatives that address scientific areas that are broadly relevant to human health and disease. Funding for each program is limited to 5-10 years, so goals for each program must be achievable within that timeframe. More information on the Common Fund can be found at http://commonfund.nih.gov/.

Meeting participants will discuss potential new Common Fund ideas that fall within one or more of the following broad themes:

• Fundamental Biological Principles
• Computational and Informatics Challenges
• Opportunities for Human Subjects Research

As part of registration, participants will be asked to identify, in order of preference from 1 to 3 (with “1” being the highest and “3” being the lowest), which session they would like to participate in.

The meeting is open to all members of the public. We hope to hear from people with differing viewpoints, including persons in academic research, private sector (e.g., biotechnology/pharmaceutical) research, government agencies, non-profit organizations, and interested public. Enrollment for each category is limited. Applications to attend the meeting will be accepted from March 16, 2012 to April 13, 2012. After submitting your application online, you will receive an automated Email response that your information has been received. Within a few days of the application closing date, you will receive a second Email stating whether your application has been approved and you are registered. Once a given category is full, you will be placed on a waiting list and notified if space becomes available to apply to register for that category.

A pre-meeting Live VideoCast was scheduled for Thursday, April 12, 2012, from 3:00-4:30PM EST, to give confirmed participants important information about the meeting goals, format, and logistics. Please note that this VideoCast has been canceled. The information that was to be presented at the VideoCast will be provided at the in-person meeting.

Registration for the meeting is free. No accommodations for expenses due to travel, lodging, or food will be provided. If you are interested in participating, you may apply on-line.