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NIH 'Pushes Ahead' With NCATS

Despite objections by many in the scientific and regulatory communities, NIH says it plans to establish its new National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences by October, reports The Chronicle of Higher Education's Paul Basken. While most of the center's critics agree that there are too many scientific discoveries slipping through the translational cracks, they warn that the proposed changes could endanger more than $500 million a year in "critical," existing NIH programs, Basken says. The proposed budget for NCATS is $700 million a year. Most critics of the proposed plan think NIH Director Francis Collins is moving too fast without considering the long-term impact of the reshuffling, and worry that important research will be left without NIH support. However, Collins says that the opposition comes from a fear of change, Basken adds.