NIGMS is in the process of considering how best to support two important activities: the development of biomedical technologies and access to those technologies as they become research resources. These topics are strongly related, but there are aspects of each that should be explored independently. An important part of this process is getting input from the community, so we’ve issued a request for information (RFI) focused on technology development. A subsequent RFI will extend the discussion to the support of research resources. There are two main issues that we’re thinking hard about right now as we consider how our technology development programs should be structured:

• The relationship between technology development and question-based biomedical research. We’re particularly interested in whether and how technology development and question-driven research should be coupled in different circumstances. Coupling technology development with addressing biomedical research problems can help ensure the relevance of the tools that emerge, but it may not always be necessary or appropriate.

• Supporting the full range of biomedical technology development. We’re interested in the effective support of all aspects of technology development, from the exploration of emerging concepts to the conversion of fragile technologies into standard tools.

We’d also like to hear your thoughts on how technology development project applications are reviewed and how funded programs should be evaluated. While the RFI invites comments on several specific topics, you should not feel limited to them—we welcome any comments that you feel are relevant. And remember that we’ll be issuing a separate request for input on how best to support research resources. To respond to this RFI, send an e-mail to nigmstech@mail.nih.gov by August 7. If you have any questions about the RFI, please let us know.