Featuring Francis Collins, M.D., Ph.D., Senior Advisor to President Biden and Former Director of the National Institutes of Health, and Joni Rutter, Ph.D., NCATS Director

Plus a Panel of Health Care Leaders From Pfizer, NORD, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital​, Muscular Dystrophy Association, Vesalius, Friedreich’s Ataxia Research Alliance, FasterCures, and PTC Therapeutics

For the last decade, the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), one of the 27 institutes and centers within the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has played a pivotal role in tackling ongoing challenges in research to deliver new and innovative treatments to patients faster. Since its inception, NCATS has helped bring 44 FDA-approved drugs for rare diseases to market, developed the largest repository of COVID-19 clinical data in the United States for research and supported the work of a vast network of groundbreaking research institutions.

In a new webinar from Manatt Health, health care leaders will discuss the barriers that must be overcome to ensure continued progress in the quest to discover and deliver new treatments to patients. They also will share their perspectives on the critical part NCATS has played in improving and speeding translational research—and the importance for all stakeholders to join together to support NCATS’ work and mission. Key topics that will be covered include:

• The ways in which NCATS has worked to help reduce, remove and/or bypass bottlenecks in the research process
• The lessons NCATS has learned over the past decade, its most important accomplishments and its vision for the road ahead
• New approaches for accelerating the development, testing and dissemination of new research, treatments and interventions
• Real-world examples of how NCATS is transforming the innovation process by focusing on what’s common across diseases

In addition, the program will discuss the mission of the newly launched NCATS Alliance, which was founded by a group of eight health care leaders who joined with Manatt to establish the coalition with a goal of advancing the critical work of NCATS. Among other initiatives, the NCATS Alliance will strive to educate the public and policymakers about the vital role of NCATS, as well as to secure sustained appropriations to support NCATS in leading the transformation and acceleration of translational science research.

P.S. If you are interested in joining the NCATS Alliance, please click here:

Speakers:

• Rachel Sher, Partner, Manatt Health
• Francis Collins, M.D., Ph.D., Senior Advisor to President Biden
• Joni L. Rutter, Ph.D., NCATS Director

Moderator:

Ron Bartek, President, Friedreich’s Ataxia Research Alliance (FARA)

Panelists:

• Christopher Austin, M.D., Chief Executive Officer, Vesalius Therapeutics
• Diana Pankevich, Ph.D., Director of Global Innovation Policy & Geopolitical Risk, Pfizer  
• Kristin Stephenson, J.D., M.H.A., Director, Office of Strategy & Alliances PTNI, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
• Paul Melmeyer, VP of Public Policy & Advocacy, Muscular Dystrophy Association
• Karin Hoelzer, Ph.D., Director of Policy & Regulatory Affairs, National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD)
• Kristin Schneeman, Senior Director, FasterCures, a Center of the Milken Institute
• Jonny McPherson, VP of Government Affairs & Public Policy, PTC Therapeutics, Inc. 

Date and Time:

March 15, 2023
1:00 – 2:00 PM ET

If you would like to receive an audio transcript of this webinar due to accessibility issues, please email us at webinars@manatt.com.

This program does not constitute legal advice, nor does it establish an attorney-client relationship. Views expressed by presenters are strictly their own and should not be construed to be the views of Manatt or attributed to Manatt.