NIH Director Francis Collins announced the establishment of the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) on December 23, 2011. The announcement was made right after President Obama signed NIH’s fiscal year 2012 appropriation into law.
The new Center’s creation was formally announced January 6 in the NIH Guide to Grants and Contracts. That same day, NIH published a Federal Register notice detailing changes in organization, functions, and delegations of authority at various institutes, centers, and divisions. NIH also posted an FAQ about them about these changes. When NCATS was established, the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) was dissolved, and its programs were dispersed to other NCATS and other NIH entities. A list of where NCRR programs will reside is available here.
During the search for a permanent director of NCATS, Thomas R. Insel, M.D. (Director, National Institute of Mental Health) will serve as Acting Director and Kathy Hudson, Ph.D. (NIH Deputy Director for Science, Outreach, and Policy) will serve as Acting Deputy Director.
Meanwhile, the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), which absorbed a number of NCRR programs, underwent its own reorganization, described in a Jan. 4 announcement.