I spoke with Joe Pancrazio yesterday who brought me up to speed on the the NINDS Cooperative Program in Translational Research. The program is intended to catalyze the development of partnerships between basic and clinical investigators, and to stimulate agreements between the academic and industrial sectors, so that translational research in neuroscience can flourish as a cooperative, iterative process leading to new and effective interventions for neurological disorders. The program in Translational Research is implemented through three coordinated cooperative agreements mechanisms, and NINDS program staff will have a significant, although not dominant, role in the planning and execution of the supported activities. It is intended for the extramural research community to use the translational research initiatives flexibly and creatively, and in whatever combinations are necessary, to achieve the most rapid and effective development of clinical interventions for neurological disorders. NINDS is the only neuroscience institute that participates in this program, although other institutes have some kind of translational activities.