Maximizing the return on taxpayers’ investments in fundamental biomedical research
By Jon R. Lorsch
Mol. Biol. Cell May 1, 2015 vol. 26 no. 9 1578-1582
Abstract
The National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) at the U.S. National Institutes of Health has an annual budget of more than $2.3 billion. The institute uses these funds to support fundamental biomedical research and training at universities, medical schools, and other institutions across the country. My job as director of NIGMS is to work to maximize the scientific returns on the taxpayers’ investments. I describe how we are optimizing our investment strategies and funding mechanisms, and how, in the process, we hope to create a more efficient and sustainable biomedical research enterprise.
People often ask me to explain my job as director of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS). This turns out not to be a very hard question to answer, because my primary role is easy to define: I work to maximize the return on taxpayers’ investments in the fundamental biomedical research and training the institute funds. In my first year and a half at NIGMS, I have found this job description to be very useful as a central premise to guide decision making. In this article, I will describe how this guiding principle is helping us reshape our strategies for supporting fundamental biomedical research.