Overview of the NCATS Strategic Plan

This new strategic plan sets the direction to further innovate and advance translational science in order to meet public health needs. The plan’s five goals provide a way for us to collectively and tangibly make progress. Each goal is followed by several objectives and approaches for implementing them. Goals 1, 2, and 3 align directly with the three elements of NCATS’ vision: More Treatments, For All People, More Quickly. Goal 4 addresses common approaches and strategies that work across many of our efforts. Goal 5 reflects our commitment as stewards for NCATS and translational science.

Strategic Planning Process

The strategic planning process included deliberate, extensive engagements with multidisciplinary constituents on how and what NCATS should prioritize to support the center’s vision. We engaged over 1,150 individuals from academic institutions, advocacy organizations, industry, and the general public as well as patients through more than 44 roundtable discussions over a year of both external community and internal staff engagements. Find details on the engagement activities undertaken during the strategic planning process in Appendix C.

Approach to Priority Setting

Priority setting at NCATS, as a whole, is essential to recognize programs, projects, and other activities that are already addressing or ready to address gaps and opportunities. It also enables us to identify projects that should sunset or transition away from federal funding for further development or application — by industry, for example.

NCATS sets strategic priorities in a transparent and inclusive manner. This is illustrated by the strategic planning process that enabled inclusive discourse through multiple feedback opportunities. External community members and internal staff provided valuable perspectives about important areas for NCATS to prioritize in its strategic plan. Recommendations included sunsetting or transitioning NCATS activities and identifying opportunities derived from successful programs and projects, new directions, and translational challenges that have yet to be addressed.

In addition to the strategic planning process, part of our ongoing operational priority setting includes regularly engaging our communities to understand their needs and ways our translational science approaches could solve them. Activities include convening workshops, workgroups, or listening sessions; gathering input across NCATS, NIH, and external communities; and soliciting input from the public. Our approaches to prioritization span NCATS intramural and extramural programs and include a robust internal operational planning process that occurs approximately four times each year. Outside review of extramural concepts and program updates occurs during open sessions of the NCATS Advisory Council meetings and through consultation with the Cures Acceleration Network (CAN) Review Board. Extramural research undergoes a two-stage peer review process, which further informs how the priorities outlined in a strategic plan are implemented. For intramural activities, our Division of Preclinical Innovation systematically identifies opportunities for new and innovative approaches within its research programs. The intramural ad hoc scientific review involves external expert input every four years on NCATS’ progress and direction.

Implementation of the Strategic Plan

The NCATS Strategic Plan for 2025-2030 sets forth five goals, each with specific objectives and high-level approaches that will guide implementation. Implementation will be coordinated across the center through the immediate Office of the NCATS Director. It will include prioritizing activities to pursue, as well as putting in place a strategy to track progress, develop metrics, and keep our communities informed as we evaluate our progress. For details on implementing the strategic plan, see Appendix D.