FDA funds regulatory science centers

The FDA has awarded $2 million to support two regional Centers of Excellence in Regulatory Science and Innovation to be located at the University of Maryland and Georgetown University.

The centers will focus on strengthening science and training to modernize the way drugs and medical devices are reviewed and evaluated. Each university was granted $1 million and the FDA may potentially fund the programs for three years.

“These partnerships represent a critical, necessary and creative investment—one that will benefit not just FDA and academia, but also American consumers and industry,” said FDA chief scientist Jesse L. Goodman, MD, in a statement. “The Centers for Excellence will create new scientific research, training and staff exchange opportunities for FDA and leading area institutions.”

The CERSI researchers will assist the FDA in driving innovation in medical product development, in addition to laboratory, population, behavioral and manufacturing sciences, according to the administration.


Around the web

RBMA President Peter Moffatt discusses declining reimbursement rates, recruiting challenges and the role of artificial intelligence in transforming the industry.

Deepak Bhatt, MD, director of the Mount Sinai Fuster Heart Hospital and principal investigator of the TRANSFORM trial, explains an emerging technique for cardiac screening: combining coronary CT angiography with artificial intelligence for plaque analysis to create an approach similar to mammography.

A total of 16 cardiology practices from 12 states settled with the DOJ to resolve allegations they overbilled Medicare for imaging agents used to diagnose cardiovascular disease.