December 14, 2017 — Driven to Cure, Inc. has donated an additional $100,000 to the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH) to further cutting-edge research on rare kidney cancer conducted by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Clinical Center.

December 7, 2017 – Science Translational Medicine has published an article by experts from the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health, the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), industry, academia and not-for-profit organizations that outlines a framework for the level of evidence needed to support qualification of biological markers (biomarkers) for use in drug development decision making. While biomarkers can facilitate all aspects of drug development, their use has been hampered by lack of a clear and predictable process to qualify new markers with the FDA.

November 30, 2017 – Science has published an article outlining guiding principles for sponsors and supporters of gene drive research agreed upon by 13 organizations thus far, including the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health. Considered an emerging technology still in early research, gene drive can be used to promote the preferential inheritance of a beneficial trait, thereby increasing its prevalence in a population.

October 11, 2017 — For almost a decade, the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH), in collaboration with the National Institutes of Health’s Fogarty International Center (FIC), has managed the most comprehensive multicenter study to better understand the complicated relationships among intestinal infections, nutrition and other environmental exposures early in life on child development. “The Etiology, Risk Factors, and Interactions of Enteric Infections and Malnutrition and the Consequences for Child Health and Development” (MAL-ED) study, supported by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, captured the significant burden that such exposures have on the health, physical growth and cognitive development of children from birth to early childhood at eight sites in Africa, Asia and South America.

August 16, 2017 — The Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH) Biomarkers Consortium (BC) has launched a project with the potential to transform clinical trials and lead to the development of targeted therapies for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) patients. The Cerebrospinal Fluid (CSF) Proteomics Project leverages results from a previous BC project to analyze potential biological markers (biomarkers) that can track AD in its earliest stages by illuminating important changes in the brain. This new understanding of AD progression will help improve the monitoring of early AD and a patient’s response to treatment.

July 27, 2017 — The Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH) is delighted to once again earn the highest, 4-star rating from Charity Navigator, in addition to being named the #1 charity among biomedical research organizations.

July 20, 2017 — The Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH) Biomarkers Consortium has launched a study to identify biological markers (biomarkers) in the blood that will measure a Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) patient’s increased risk for cardiovascular disease—the leading cause of deaths in RA patients. RA is a chronic inflammatory disease that causes pain and loss of mobility, and by developing therapies that decrease joint inflammation it may also reduce cardiovascular risk.

July 20, 2017 – The Foundation for the NIH (FNIH) Biomarkers Consortium (BC) has met a critical milestone that could improve clinical trials and accelerate treatment approvals for hospital-acquired bacterial infections. Upon request from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the FNIH submitted recommendations to the FDA to guide drug development for hospital-acquired bacterial pneumonia (HABP) and ventilator-associated bacterial pneumonia (VABP). The FDA will consider the recommendations as it develops clinical trial guidance for these serious infections that lead to increased deaths while patients are in the hospital.

June 15, 2017 – The Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH) has launched a new project to shorten the treatment times of tuberculosis (TB) in drug-sensitive patients through individualized therapy. The $24 million project, “Using Biomarkers to Predict TB Treatment Duration” (PredictTB), is funded in-part by the FNIH through a $13 million donation from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, with management support provided by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and Catalysis Foundation for Health.

June 7, 2017— The White House has announced that Francis Collins, M.D., Ph.D.—an ex-officio member of the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH) Board of Directors—will continue to serve in the role of Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The FNIH extends its congratulations to Dr. Collins on remaining in the role that he has maintained for the past eight years.