Crow calls for National Institutes of Health redesign

ASU President Michael Crow suggests restructuring the National Institutes of Health model to better transfer its laboratory findings to clinical settings.

Along with co-authors Denis Cortese and Leland Hartwell, Crow writes: "The U.S. spends more than any other nation on biomedical research, counting on those outlays to make health care more efficient. Leading the way is the National Institutes of Health, which funds more than $30 billion on projects each year, chiefly in basic research.

"Unfortunately, the NIH in its current form is too sprawling and disjointed to allow advances in medical research to move easily into medical practice. Structural changes are needed to help the agency live up to its full potential in improving medicine and health outcomes. The conglomeration of institutions should be streamlined from 27 to three."

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