GUMC, FDA enter new partnership to improve public health

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC) today announced a new partnership to stimulate innovation in regulatory science, ethics, education, and training. The partnership enhances the capabilities of both institutions to meet their common goal of improving public health.

"We are excited about this new partnership and the unique opportunities for supporting our goal of translating basic research discoveries into real world products that benefit patients and public health," said Jesse Goodman, M.D., the FDA's Chief Scientist and Deputy Commissioner for Science and Public Health. "By fostering interactions between FDA scientists and GUMC researchers, we believe that we can make major strides in achieving this goal. The FDA and GUMC share complementary expertise and a fundamental commitment to applying innovation to improving health in the U.S. and globally."

Terms of the partnership are spelled out in a Memorandum of Understanding, signed earlier today, that supports a range of new activities including:

• Joint research and public health activities in areas such as novel technologies, public health preparedness, ethics, and bioinformatics
• Joint mentorship of doctoral and post-doctoral students in collaborative research relevant to FDA's mission
• Scientific staff exchanges and professional development opportunities, including selected FDA staff serving as adjunct faculty in teaching and clinical activities at GUMC and selected GUMC staff participating in research and other activities with FDA
• Shared access to and development of important training and continuing education activities.

"Georgetown University Medical Center's partnership with the FDA is backed by an outstanding cadre of scientists who all share a common goal of improving the lives of people around the world through robust research and its application," said Howard Federoff, M.D., Ph.D., GUMC's Executive Vice President of Health Sciences and Executive Dean of its School of Medicine. "It is at the heart of our mission to share our knowledge and expertise, and we welcome the many opportunities this new collaboration will deliver."