Director's Note

When two or more institutes at NIH want to collaborate on transformative and goal-driven research, they often turn to the NIH Common Fund. Enacted into law by Congress through the 2006 NIH Reform Act, the Common Fund provides a solution for NIH components to work together on mutually beneficial projects and tackle the most pressing public health issues head-on.

With our cross-cutting research portfolio, NIDDK is a natural fit for collaborative projects. From diabetes and obesity to gastrointestinal disorders and kidney disease, we tap into the Common Fund to learn about and find creative solutions for the health conditions in our mission. Some projects focus specifically on basic research, which my colleagues and I called the “bedrock of progress” in our recent Science editorial. In this issue you’ll learn about a variety of initiatives such as Stimulating Peripheral Activity to Relieve Conditions, which partners us with National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences and other areas of the NIH, and the Molecular Transducers of Physical Activity in Humans project, which I co-chair.

But the Common Fund isn’t the only way NIDDK works in tandem with other parts of the NIH. For example, our NIH Office of Nutrition Research helps plan research initiatives through a trans-NIH group. In this issue you can read about the Office’s new director, Dr. Christopher Lynch, whose leadership will deepen partnerships across NIH to improve what we know about nutrition. You’ll also find updates on the Diabetes Mellitus Interagency Coordinating Committee meeting that discussed research proposed by people throughout NIH, among other news.

The potential for success is endless when we leverage our resources and expertise. Working together as an NIH community, we can turn our collective vision of improving health and lengthening lives into a reality.

In good health,
Griffin P. Rodgers, M.D., M.A.C.P.
Director, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
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