Thinking outside the box: fostering innovation and non-hypothesis-driven research at NIH.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has long been known as an institution that supports biomedical advances through hypothesis-driven research. Another aspect of NIH, however, has received comparatively little attention and may be critical to advancing translational science beyond its current limitations. Specifically, this aspect of NIH focuses on supporting innovation through the development of high-risk technologies that have the potential to empower research.