News Release

Friday, September 14, 2012

Christopher P. Austin named National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences director

Christopher P. Austin, M.D., will serve as director of the NIH's newest center, the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences.

Christopher P. Austin, M.D., will serve as director of the NIH's newest center, the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS). National Institutes of Health Director Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., made the announcement at the inaugural meetings of the NCATS Advisory Council and Cures Acceleration Network (CAN) Review Board. Austin will succeed NCATS Acting Director Thomas R. Insel, M.D., on Sept. 23, 2012.

Austin had been serving as director of NCATS Division of Pre-Clinical Innovation since the NCATS launch in December 2011.

“Dr. Austin's accomplishments in virtually every stage of the translational science spectrum make him an ideal choice to continue building on NCATS' momentum and successes,” Collins said. “From his clinical experience to his work in the public and private sectors, he is poised to lead the center in revolutionizing the science of transforming laboratory discoveries into new therapies for patients.”

NCATS has launched innovative research initiatives including Discovering New Therapeutic Uses for Existing Molecules and Tissue Chip for Drug Screening. Austin will lead these and all other NCATS' research efforts, including the Clinical and Translational Science Awards, which support a national consortium of medical research institutions to enhance the efficiency and quality of translational research. The Office of Rare Diseases Research, the NIH's Chemical Genomics Center (NCGC) and the Therapeutics for Rare and Neglected Diseases (TRND) effort also are among NCATS' programs.

“In its first months, NCATS has made great strides in addressing a multitude of translational science challenges,” Austin said. “I feel privileged to have this opportunity to continue serving the NIH mission by leading NCATS' innovative efforts to transform basic discoveries into improved patient care.”

A developmental neurogeneticist by training, Austin came to NIH in 2002 from Merck, where his work focused on genome-based discovery of novel targets and drugs. He began his NIH career as senior advisor to the director for translational research at the National Human Genome Research Institute, where he initiated the Knockout Mouse Project and the Molecular Libraries Roadmap Initiative. Other NIH roles have included serving as director of TRND and the NCGC, and as scientific director of the NIH's Center for Translational Therapeutics.

Austin earned his medical degree from Harvard Medical School and his undergraduate degree in biology from Princeton University. He completed his clinical training in internal medicine and neurology at the Massachusetts General Hospital and a fellowship in genetics at Harvard.

To learn more about NCATS, visit www.ncats.nih.gov. For more information about Austin, contact the NCATS Office of Communications.

The National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS)aims to catalyze the generation of innovative methods and technologies that will enhance the development, testing and implementation of diagnostics and therapeutics across a wide range of human diseases and conditions. For more information about NCATS, visit www.ncats.nih.gov.

The Office of the Director, the central office at NIH, is responsible for setting policy for NIH, which includes 27 Institutes and Centers. This involves planning, managing, and coordinating the programs and activities of all NIH components. The Office of the Director also includes program offices which are responsible for stimulating specific areas of research throughout NIH. Additional information is available at http://www.nih.gov/icd/od.

About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.

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