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Everything That Matters in Biomedicine Builds on Basic Science
Author(s) -
Collins Francis S.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.30.1_supplement.376.1
Subject(s) - biomedicine , presentation (obstetrics) , agency (philosophy) , engineering ethics , basic research , set (abstract data type) , political science , computer science , engineering , medicine , sociology , library science , social science , genetics , radiology , biology , programming language
In this presentation, the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) will highlight the agency's past, present, and future support of basic science. Foundational research conducted by seven decades of grantees has been central to NIH's ability to fulfill its mission: to seek fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior of living systems and to apply that knowledge to enhance health, lengthen life, and reduce illness and disability. History shows that major biomedical advances regularly spring from unexpected basic discoveries made through investigator‐initiated research. Furthermore, no one can foresee what threads of foundational knowledge will be woven together to produce new medical breakthroughs, or pave the way for innovative technologies that enable the biomedical research enterprise to tackle questions once beyond its reach. NIH‐funded basic science has set the stage for remarkable advances in the 21 st century. To realize the full potential of these opportunities, NIH will require a steady, sustained stream of resources, and will need to be able to continue and strengthen its efforts to encourage, train, and support the next generation of basic scientists.