Join the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB), and the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) at a meeting to coordinate the establishment of the NanoHealth Enterprise, a public-private partnership to facilitate research on the fundamental interactions of engineered nanomaterials with biological systems.

This meeting will build on a preliminary meeting held in October, and will provide a "ground floor" opportunity to discuss areas of mutual scientific interest and components of the NanoHealth Enterprise—a partnership of NIH institutes, other federal agencies, industry, stakeholders, and foundations to pursue the very best science and leverage investment for research efficiencies. Discoveries made through the NanoHealth Enterprise will support commercialization of nano-enabled products for medicine, industry, and consumer goods.

Today, there are extraordinary opportunities for the use of nanomaterials. Design and engineering of nanoscale materials that are safe for human and environmental use requires new knowledge of the size-dependent properties of nanomaterials in living systems. Through the NanoHealth Enterprise, we will address questions critical to the development of biocompatible nanoscale materials, such as the role of elemental composition, size, shape, and surface chemistry in biological response. We will provide a comprehensive and dynamic informatics framework to support critical data mining and modeling. And we will work to realize key benefits to our partners, including an authoritative consensus on the health effects of nanomaterials, harmonization of data for regulatory acceptance, and a resulting reduction in regulatory risk.

If you have questions or concerns, please contact:
Kimberly Thigpen Tart
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
PO Box 12233
Research Triangle Park, NC 27709
Phone: 919-541-5377
E-mail: thigpenk@niehs.nih.gov