Division of Discovery Science & Technology (DDST)

An important aspect of the Institute’s mission is encouraging collaborations among the institutes and centers at NIH, other federal agencies, and the private sector.
 

• American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) – Collaboration to develop validation and qualification guidelines for new in vitro tools and models for the pre-clinical drug discovery process.
  http://nibib.gov/newsevents/meetingevents/pastevents

• Armed Forces Institute for Regenerative Medicine (AFIRM) – The U.S. Army Medical Research and Material Command (USAMRMC), Office of Naval Research (ONR), and the NIH have established AFIRM, which is dedicated to the repair and regeneration of battlefield injuries through the use of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Therapies developed by the AFIRM will also serve trauma and burn patients in the public at large. This trans-agency effort includes academic and industry scientists, biotechnology companies, hospitals, the U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research, and the NIBIB as the NIH lead.
  http://www.afirm.mil/

• Biomedical Information Science and Technology Initiative (BISTI) Consortium – BISTI is aimed at maximizing NIH’s opportunities to benefit from the use of computer science and technology to address problems in biology and medicine.
  http://bisti.nih.gov

• Interagency Modeling and Analysis Group (IMAG) – IMAG brings together program officers across federal agencies to communicate, disseminate, and plan collaborative activities and joint initiatives related to computational and analytical modeling and analysis of biomedical, biological, and behavioral systems http://www.nibib.nih.gov/Research/IMAG. IMAG hosts the NIH Population Modeling SIG and the Multi-scale Modeling (MSM) Consortium. http://www.imagwiki.org
   
• Multi-Agency Tissue Engineering Sciences (MATES) Working Group – The MATES Working Group facilitates communication about tissue engineering and regenerative medicine activities across NIH institutes and other federal agencies by conducting monthly meetings and maintaining a common website. The working group also cosponsors funding opportunities, scientific meetings, and workshops; facilitates the development of standards; and monitors new technology development in the field.
  http://tissueengineering.gov/
   
• National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) – The NNI is a multi-governmental agency program aimed at accelerating the discovery, development, and deployment of nanometer-scale science, engineering, and technology. The Nanoscale Science, Engineering, and Technology Subcommittee (NSET) is an interagency body operating under the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) that coordinates the planning, budgeting, program implementation, and review of NNI activities. The NIBIB has institutional representation on the NSET Subcommittee as one of the leading ICs at the NIH supporting the research and development of nanotechnology for healthcare applications. In 2007, the NIBIB, in collaboration with the NIEHS, established the NanoHealth Enterprise Initiative in response to the health and safety directives of the NNI program. This initiative is a public-private partnership focused on examining the physicochemical interactions of engineered nanomaterials with biological systems.
  http://www.nano.gov/
   
• NIBIB Point-of-Care Technologies Research Network (POCTRN) – This network of centers was created to drive the development of appropriate point-of-care diagnostic technologies through collaborative efforts that simultaneously merge scientific and technological capabilities with clinical need. http://www.nibib.nih.gov/Research/POCTRN"
   
• Neuroprosthesis Group (NPG) – NPG brings together program officers across NIH and other agencies to communicate, disseminate, and plan collaborative activities related to neuroprosthesis and neuroengineering.