Partnerships

Partnerships

The National Research Council of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences reports that public–private partnerships can be instrumental in accelerating new technologies from idea to market. Public–private partnerships can leverage technologies and financial resources from a wide variety of public and private commercial and nonprofit entities, with each partner making its own unique contributions and each partner reaping benefits that might not have been possible otherwise. The results are, indeed, greater than the sum of the parts.

The Advanced Technology Partnerships Initiative

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) has launched an initiative to speed the translation of research discoveries into new treatments for patients with cancer and AIDS. The Advanced Technology Partnerships Initiative (ATPI) is intended to establish effective partnerships with academic research institutions, industry, and nonprofit organization. Much of the work is done through its Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC) in Frederick, Md. - a government-owned, contractor-operated national laboratory, with SAIC-Frederick as prime contractor.

SAIC-Frederick manages a wide range of state-of-the-art, cost-effective advanced technologies that support NCI's mission, from basic research to translational and clinical studies. These include:

• genetics and genomics
• proteins and proteomics
• nanotechnology characterization
• advanced biomedical imaging
• high-performance biomedical computing

These resources will be used in developing partnerships to identify the most promising diagnostic and therapeutic candidates and move them efficiently through R&D and into preclinical and clinical studies. These partnerships can leverage technologies and financial resources from a wide variety of cooperating entities to shorten timelines, reduce costs, and increase productivity.