NIH Roadmap-affiliated initiative

The NIH Roadmap for Medical Research was launched in September 2004 to transform the way biomedical research is conducted. Funded through the NIH Common Fund, Roadmap programs span all areas of health and disease research and boundaries of NIH institutes and centers.

Roadmap initiatives foster high-risk/high-reward research, enable the development of transformative tools and methodologies, fill fundamental knowledge gaps, and/or change academic culture to foster collaboration. These initiatives are designed to pursue major opportunities and gaps in biomedical research that no single NIH institute could tackle alone, but which the agency as a whole can address to make the biggest impact possible on the progress of medical research.

One example is the Epigenomics Program managed by NIEHS, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, and the Office of Strategic Coordination. Epigenetics is an emerging science that involves the study of changes in the regulation of gene activity and expression that are not dependent on gene sequence. The overall hypothesis of the Epigenomics Program is that the origins of health and susceptibility to disease are, in part, the result of epigenetic regulation of the genetic blueprint.

Additional information about the NIH Roadmap, the Common Fund, the Epigenomics Program, and available grants can be found at: NIH Roadmap Initiatives.