NIH Clinical Center Profile 2012 - Search - National Institutes of Health

M E S S A G E F R O M T H E D I R E C T O R
On September 23, 2011, the NIH Clinical Center received an historic honor for its
decades of service as a model clinical research hospital. The Mary and Albert Lasker
Foundation named the Clinical Center as recipient of the 2011 Lasker~Bloomberg
Public Service Award. The award recognizes the Clinical Center’s rich history in
medical discovery and clinical research training. The award also honors the nearly half
a million patients and healthy volunteers who have participated in clinical research
here since the hospital opened in 1953. I invite you to read more about the award
and the community’s celebration in this edition of Profile.
The Lasker Award honors a collective body of work and inspires future endeavors.
In 2011, progress was made in carrying out recommendations from the
Congressionally mandated NIH Scientific Management Review Board’s “Report on
the NIH Clinical Center.” The report’s call for a streamlined governance structure led
to the creation of the Clinical Center Governing Board, made up of Institute Directors,
that will complement the existing NIH Advisory Board for Clinical Research. The
Clinical Center Governing Board will explore new, more stable funding models and
new approaches for opening the doors of the Clinical Center to external collaborators.
During 2012, one goal we have is to provide external investigators with new
partnerships with intramural investigators that will allow access to the Clinical Center’s
special resources. These resources include our imaging capabilities, the pharmacy’s
“good manufacturing practices” facility for formulating drugs for clinical trials, the
portfolio of clinical research training programs, our unique patient populations, and
informatics tools.
As President Harry S. Truman said when he placed the Clinical Center’s cornerstone
in 1951, “Modern medicine must find ways of detecting…diseases in their early stages
and of stopping their destructive force. That will be the major work of this clinical
research center.” And it continues to be the Clinical Center’s work, centered on
exceptional patient care and an unrivaled environment for clinical research.
John I. Gallin, MD
CC Director
A N N U A L R E P O RT 2 0 1 2 • 3