Mission and History of the Center for Strategic Scientific Initiatives

CSSI was established over 15 years ago by Anna Barker, PhD, who at that time was the NCI Primary Deputy Director. The purpose of the Center was to implement and manage extramural grant-making initiatives deemed high priority by the NCI’s Director and Deputy Directors. The original focus was on supporting extramural scientists developing technology necessary to pursue research in emerging areas such as proteomics and nanotechnology. This subsequently expanded into a series of extramural initiatives that involved work across a broader spectrum of cancer research. 

 Under the guidance of Dinah Singer, PhD, the NCI Deputy Director, about five years ago CSSI spun off a portfolio of grants and mature programs that NCI leadership felt would benefit from being integrated into the most relevant extramural NCI Divisions. The Center then focused on developing and coordinating initiatives that involved collaboration across the NCI. This included continuation of two successful grant-making programs focused on technology (Informatics Technology for Cancer Research [ITCR] and Innovative Molecular Analysis Technologies [IMAT]), accompanied by creation of “The Foundry.” The goal of the latter was to accelerate the development of high priority scientific efforts by using an innovation lab approach to spur collaboration across disparate scientific communities. In addition, CSSI staff assumed responsibility for a major effort to develop and manage Cancer Grand Challenges (CGC), a partnership with Cancer Research UK to fund exceptionally novel interdisciplinary research.  

 After being named Director in late 2024, Dr. Ann Geiger, MPH, PhD, began working with staff to explicitly position CSSI as a focal point for creativity and innovation that would support efforts to maintain a trajectory of impactful research in the face of a declining budget. To facilitate NCI-wide planning and operational efficiencies, Center staff continue to coordinate the ITCR, IMAT, and CGC initiatives. A team also continues to serve as thought leaders and coordinators of NCI and NIH activities related to the use of artificial intelligence in research and health care delivery. The Foundry will be relaunched as a robust resource to support NCI colleagues in convening scientific communities to develop initiatives and strategic plans. These priority efforts are more fully described in the following pages. 

 The ambitious long-term goal of CSSI is to play a central role in the NCI’s adoption of creativity and innovation principles from non-governmental sectors, which will increase the ability of NCI to maintain the research trajectory that has led to dramatic declines in cancer incidence and mortality. New activities of particular interest include offering staff evidence-based training opportunities in approaches to spurring creativity and introducing Lean Startup principles to initiative implementation and coordination. In addition, the Center will prioritize activities that encourage closer collaborations between extramural and intramural programs, the Frederick National Lab, and other NIH components.