Francis Collins takes the controls

Science Insider has the story. Money quote:

Asked about NIH’s intramural program, he is “resistant to the idea that [the program] is in need of some sort of dramatic redo” but is pondering whether to create a pool of intramural money that, like NIH’s Common Fund, could be used to fund crosscutting research quickly.

This is really interesting. We periodically hear the meme that somehow the intramural program is in trouble. I’ve always suspected it’s partly driven by envy (intramural scientists don’t have to apply for grants like those of us in the extramural community). But Collins standing up for the intramural program is refreshing and the idea of a rapidly deployable intramural pool is great.

Jim