In its two decades of existence the NIH BtB Program has helped initiate many important laboratory/clinical collaborations involving NIH scientists and clinical investigators with each other and with many external institutions. In its current administrative structure, run by the NIH Office of Clinical Research Education and Collaboration Outreach with funds from the Office of the NIH Director, our funding partners and occasionally the NIH Institutes and Centers, the BtB Program emphasizes the following aspects of its goals as exemplified by its reviews of applications:
To promote robust multi-directional collaborations among laboratory ("bench") and patient-focused ("bedside") investigators.
To facilitate initiation of new and imaginative research programs targeting important medical questions, including specialized queries whose elucidation may have broad implications for understanding normal function and the pathophysiology of individual and community health issues.
To investigate problems identified by studies of patients with diverse diseases or results from cell or animal studies that can likely be extended to clinical studies, within the scope of the proposal or shortly thereafter.
To investigate problems identified by studies of patients with diverse diseases or results from cell or animal studies that can likely be extended to clinical studies, within the scope of the proposal or shortly thereafter.
To allow investigators to move into new fields or broaden their approaches in ways not easily supported by their current funds for ongoing research, including especially trans-NIH projects and external collaborations.
To optimize the use of the specialized facilities at the various NIH campuses, including especially the NIH Clinical Center.
Although individual projects may occasionally be approved that do not fully meet all these criteria, most projects that have been funded in the past have been within this framework.
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
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